Despite criticisms from many quarters, a PAS leader today said the sentence by the Pahang Syariah High Court to whip model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno for consuming alcohol is lawful in Islam.

nasharuddin mat isa parliament pc 160609 In a statement issued today, PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa (left) refuted the argument made Malaysian Bar president K Ragunath who last Monday denounced and rejected whipping as a punishment for any offence.

Ragunath previously had stressed that such punishment and other forms of corporal punishment as cruel, inhuman or degrading and called for its abolition as it has failed as a retributory and deterrent sentence.

"The argument presented by the Bar is not accurate and would not be admissible. Any punishment that is carried out in the national legal system is substantiated in order to teach the offenders (to repent)," said Nasharuddin.

Furthermore, he said, punishment such as whipping is enshrined in the holy Quran and the hadith (teachings of the Prophets).

"(Besides), Prophet Muhammad's companions had themselves carried out such punishment during their days," he added.

Punishment today fails to deter

crime

According to Nasharuddin, the recent rise in the crime rate is because the current punishment meted out have so far failed to deter criminal tendencies.

However, Nasharuddin believed that Kartika has repented and this was evident from the fact that she refused to sue any anyone and had instead urged the court to carry out the punishment immediately .

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno He also said that the bar "should review their argument" and said that the Islamic party is prepared to hold a discussions with them regarding the matter.

"I also urge Syariah lawyers to have dialogues with the Malaysian Bar and the public so that Syariah law in the country can be respected," said Nasharuddin.

Syariah enforcement officers had two days ago released Kartika (right) , following a letter from the Attorney-General's Chambers saying "it was not advisable for her to undergo the punishment during the fasting month".

Kartika, a mother of two, was scheduled to be caned at the Kajang Prison two days ago.

The Pahang Syariah High Court had on July 20 fined the 32-year-old mother of two girls RM5,000 and ordered her to be given six strokes of the rotan after she pleaded guilty to drinking beer at a hotel lounge in Cherating last year.

She will be the first woman to be caned under Islamic law in Malaysia, with the punishment set to be meted out in a female prison.