Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32 year-old Malaysian and former model convicted of drinking a beer, will be whipped. This was established by the Chief Justice of the Islamic court of the State of Pahang, which has defined as "correct" the first grade sentence handed down in July by the High Court of Shariah.
So far there has been no confirmation of the date of execution of the sentence. When carried out, it will be the first whipping of a woman in Malaysia, where 60% of 28 million inhabitants are Muslim, and in some states Islamic law is applied.
Last July, an Islamic court had sentenced Kartika, former model and nurse to six lashes and a fine of about 1,400 U.S. dollars, for drinking beer in a bathhouse in December 2007. Islamic law forbids the consumption of alcohol. The woman, a mother of two children, had not opposed the ruling and asked for a public flogging, suspended by the court in late August in a sign of "respect" for the holy month of Ramadan.
The Malaysian government had requested a review of the case by the High Court of appeal of the Islamic court in Kuantan, state capital of Pahang. Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Abdul Rahman stated that "the high court issued the sentence in accordance with law" and it is now up to the Department of Religious Affairs of Pahang to enforce the sentence.
In three states of Malaysia - Pahang, Perlis and Kelantan - flogging is imposed for consumption of spirits; in the remaining 10, offenders are fined.