Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno is Muslim Model in Malaysia: Kartika Shukarno, Lubna Hussein Lashes

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno is a Muslim model in Malaysia. She drank some beer in a hotel lobby and, under Muslim law, she will be caned. See update below. See 4-1-10 update below.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno

Ms. Shukarno is sentenced to 6 lashes with a rattan cane. Amnesty International tried to rescue her from the lashings but Kartika says:

I want to respect the law.

She is 32 years old and the mother of two. She wants her caning in public.

...Miss Shukarno has even asked for the caning to be carried out in public to send a clear message to Muslims that they should shun alcohol.

The prosecutor said that consuming alcohol is a very serious offense. Her "cane" will be lighter than a cane used for men, and the prosecutor says the lashes are intended to "educate," not "punish."

Caning, administered on the buttocks, breaks the skin and leaves permanent scars. Kartika said earlier that she wanted authorities to cane her as soon as possible so she can resume her life with her husband and children.

Two-thirds of the Malaysian population are said to be Muslim., but beer and alcohol being present in the country is not against the law. Perhaps this form of "evil" brings in big revenue through taxes, as it does in the U.S. or perhaps non-Muslims drink a lot.

In some reporting I see a comparison between Ms. Shukarno's case and that of the Sudanese female journalist, Lubna Hussein, who is sentenced to 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public. Let us not make that mistake. Both women live under Shariah law. Kartrika respects the law and wants others to respect it also. She believes her sentence is justice. Ms. Hussein views her sentence inhumane and against all religions.

Lubna Hussein

Hussein, reportedly a Christian, and "an enemy of public morals, insisted that she be lashed publicly and she sent a very strong message when she wore the same trousers to her trial. She has no respect for Shariah Law, and she intends to use her sentence to highlight the plight of Sudanese women. Lubna Hussein, a widow in her 30's was among 13 women arrested July 3 in a raid by members of the public order police force on a popular Khartoum cafe for wearing trousers, considered indecent by the strict interpretation of Islamic law adopted by Sudan's Islamic regime. All but three of the women were flogged at a police station two days later. Hussein is out on bail.

But Hussein and two other women decided they wanted to go to trial and Hussein invited human rights workers, western diplomats and fellow journalists to Wednesday's hearing.
Some of her women friends showed up in court Wednesday wearing trousers in a show of support.
"This is not a case about me wearing pants," said Hussein, who works in the media department of the U.N. Mission in Sudan and contributes opinion pieces to a left-leaning Khartoum newspaper.
"This is a case about annulling the article that addresses women's dress code, under the title of indecent acts. This is my battle. This article is against the constitution and even against Islamic law itself," she said after the hearing.

Ms. Hussein worked for the UN as a public information officer, and was forced to quit her job for her decision to go to trial. Lubna is a journalist and has learned that her name is on a "blacklist," and she cannot leave the country. Women forcing a trial under Shariah Law...very unusual. There must be some Muslim men in a fuss over this. Her trial on August 4th brought out women and men in support of Lubna and police brought out the tear gas to disperse the crowd.

"We are here to protest against this law that oppresses women and debases them,” said Amal Habani, another journalist, who was also arrested last month for writing a column in support of Ms Hussein.

The judge adjourned the trial until September 7th, saying that he needed to investigate, or in his words, "seek clarity" on whether or not she is immune from prosecution due to her employment with the UN. Protesters were waving banners, "No Return to the Dark Ages." This report says that Ms. Hussein's attorney was beaten by police during the protests. Lubna Hussein does not want immunity. She wants the world to see what happens when a woman decides to choose her own clothing:

They want to check with the UN whether I have immunity from prosecution,” she said outside the courtroom. “I don’t know why, because I have already resigned from the United Nations. I think they just want to delay the case.” Before the hearing, another of Ms Hussein’s lawyers said that his client would take her case to the Constitutional Court if necessary.

The flogging of this strong and vocal woman will not be looked upon kindly. The Sudenese government is already on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terror. What will they do now? Let her wear her trousers? I don't think so, but she is giving these men who, according to Luba, distribute their law and punishment loosely and on a whim, a large dose of grief.

As for Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, the Muslim model in Maylasia, she will "remain" in prison where the caning is scheduled to be carried out. We'll see if she is successful in getting her bottom caned publicly, as she is requesting, all in the quest to keep her fellow Muslims from the evils of alcohol. Update 10-05-09: Ms. Shukarno's caning has not yet happened. She has been approached by filmmakers to portray herself in a movie, but said she make no decision until her sentence has been carried out. Here's a confusing report about Shukarno desire for publicity, or not.

Update 4-1-10:
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno will not be caned. Her sentence will be communted, according to her father, but she will serve a three-week community service stint at a children's home in Pahang beginning April 2nd, 2010.

Ms. Shukarno refused to appeal her sentence, and asked to be caned in public.

Three other Malaysian women WERE caned in February for adultrey.



 Photo credit for Lubna Hussein: GuardianUK and Observer