8/14/2019 Thesun 2009-08-25 Page01 Caning Put Off

1/1

KUANTAN: The caning of model Kartika SariDewi Shukarno, who was ordered to receivesix lashes of the rotan and fined RM5,000 fordrinking beer in public, has been deferred untilafter the fasting month.

Pahang executive councillor for Religious

Affairs, Dakwah, Unity and NGOs Datuk MohdSahfri Abdul Aziz said the state religious de-partment deferred the punishment until thefasting month is over on the advice of theChief Syariah Judge of Pahang, Datuk AbdulRahman Yunus.

However, the sentence will remain, hesaid. Ramadan, a 30-day period of fasting andcontemplation, started on Saturday.

Kartika was being taken by van, accom-panied by two female and one male religiousofficers, to the Kajang womens prison yester-day to be caned when the order was issued.

The van had travelled only a short distancefrom her fathers home in Sungai Siput beforeturning back. Kartika initially refused to alight,saying she wanted to know if she would befreed. I will not come out without a black andwhite document explaining the status of whathas happened. I am surprised and speechless,she told reporters gathered at her home beforeher father persuaded her to leave the vehicle.

She later lodged a police report on the

confusion over her sentencing. She made thereport at 12.30pm to state that she had not run

away from the sentence.Her father, Shukarno

Abdul Muttalib, said thereligious department officerstook Kartika from the familyhome but sent her back 30

minutes later, saying the sen-tence could not yet be carriedout. He said he did not under-stand what was happeningand feared that the authoritiesmight accuse his daughter ofavoiding being sentenced. Hesaid because of that, he advisedher to make the police report.

Kartika, 32, a mother of twoand married to a Singaporean,was arrested during a raid at ahotel lounge in Cherating about11.40pm on July 11 last year forbreaching Syariah law, whichforbids Muslims from consumingalcohol. On July 20, the SyariahHigh Court fined her RM5,000 orthree years jail and six strokes ofthe cane after she pleaded guilty. The caningsentence was the first of its kind on a woman.

Kartika refused to appeal the sentence, andhad instead asked for her punishment to be

carried out as soon as possible and in public.The case has attracted international atten-

tion,and the story was

highlighted by major networks yesterday andthe news carried online by a dozen agencies andnews websites. Reporters from wire agenciesdescended at her home to record the event.

Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan, in

an immediate reaction yesterday, called on theauthorities to overturn the sentence of whip-

ping.He said there are

compelling reasons to overturn the sentenceas there is serious doubt over the legality andpropriety of the Syariah High Courts imposi-tion of a supplementary sentence of imprison-ment simply for the sake of carrying out thewhipping.

He also urged the government to reject

whipping as a form of sentencing for anyoffence and to abolish it altogether. Agencies

Member of Audit Bureau of Circulations (Malaysia)

Sports

No. 4831 PP 2644/12/2009 (023092)

TuesdayAugust 25, 2009

www.sun2surf.com

Mystery letters claims untrue pg3 Inter nothing special but no excuses pg30Rockingcharmers pg

19

TELLING IT AS IT IS

300,000 COPIES DAILY

Award winning newspaperfor excellence in

investigative reporting

2009 AWARDS

30 SEN for delivery to your doorstep

Ong sues Tiong for RM500mKUALA LUMPUR: MCA president and TransportMinister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat yesterday fileda RM500 million suit against Bintulu Memberof Parliament Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing fordefamation.

Ongs lawyers Messrs Tan, Goh & Associatesfiled the suit at the High Court registry in JalanDuta. He claimed that Tiong, the executivedirector of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB), hadissued a defamatory statement about givinghim RM10 million, which was published in theMalaysiakiniwebsite on Aug 12.

In his statement of claim, Ong said the

statement is untrue and he wanted Tiong toretract it and publish an apology to him in allthe major newspapers.

He is also seeking aggravated and exemplarydamages and an injunction to restrain Tiong orhis agent from further making any defamatorystatement against him regarding the issue.

Ong claimed that the statement was made inbad faith and with malice to prevent a fair andcorrect investigation into the abuse of fundsby the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) and KualaDimensis role in the affair.

Kuala Dimensi is the turnkey contractor forthe controversial RM4.9 billion PKFZ projectwhich is also the subject of a probe by the PublicAccounts Committee.

Ong said the statement had tarnished hisreputation, image, integrity and good name inthe eyes of the public.

Tiong made the allegation two weeks agoafter KDSB was alleged to have been involvedin irregularities regarding excessive claims ofbetween RM500 million and RM1 billion in areport compiled by the PKFZ special task forceheaded by a senior lawyer.

The minister had on Aug 13 sent a letterto Tiong, chairman of the Barisan NasionalBackbenchers Club, demanding that he retractthe statement and apologise, but Tiong refusedto do so.

Ong had also lodged a police reportover Tiongs statement for alleged criminal

defamation on Aug 13.Ong had also issued a statement in his blog(www.ongteekeat.com) that he is doing this in

order to seek justice and protect and clear hisname and honour.

In view of the grave and serious allegations,I am forced to claim RM500 million againstthe defendant and all damages awarded willbe channelled to educational and charitableorganisations, he said.

It was reported that KDSB had filed a lawsuitagainst Ong and Port Klang Authority chairmanDatuk Lee Hwa Beng on Thursday for releasingthe PricewaterhouseCoopers report on thePKFZ project.

One of Ongs counsel, Ronnie Tan Tuan King,

said that should Ong win the case, he woulddonate the money for education aid and tocharity. BernamaCaningCaning put offput off

Kartika waves to her family andfriends yesterday as she leaves in avan, expecting to be caned in KajangPrison. But 30 minutes later, she wasback in her fathers home.

AFPPIX