PRISONS DEPT TO BE PREPARED TO IMPLEMENT WHIPPING ACCORDING TO SYARIAH

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 (Bernama) -- Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said
Wednesday the ministry and the Prisons Department must be prepared from now on
to implement the whipping sentence imposed by the Syariah Court should the need
arise.

He also said that the whipping sentence on part-time model Kartika Sari Dewi
Shukarnor, 32, was expected to be carried out after Ramadan if the Prisons
Department was ready in terms of expertise to do.

Hishammuddin spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a two-day
Australia-Malaysia working group meeting here to discuss human trafficking
issues.

The whipping of Kartika, which was to have been carried out at the Kajang
Prison, was deferred to after the Ramadan fasting month on the instruction of
the Syariah Chief Judge of east coast state of Pahang Abdul Rahman Yunus.

On July 20, the Pahang Syariah High Court fined Kartika RM5,000 and ordered
her to be given six strokes of the cane after she pleaded guilty to drinking
beer at a hotel lounge in Cherating last year.
-- BERNAMA