...sudah banyak halangan di depan mata. Ironinya, dalam kes Kartika ini, bukan pesalah yang menghalang, namun pihak-pihak lain yang membantah.

Yang menyedihkan apabila orang bijak pandai dalam bidang ini pun turut memberikan komen negatif terhadap pelaksanaan hukuman sebat tersebut. Bermacam-macam alasan diberikan termasuklah komplikasi undang-undang dan perihal hak asasi manusia.

Hari ini media melaporkan bahawa Kartika dibebaskan buat masa ini dan pelaksanaan hukuman itu ditangguhkan atas "instructions from the higher powers" :

1. [THEMALAYSIANINSIDER] Aug 24 — The religious authorities today freed a Muslim woman who had been sentenced to be caned for drinking beer, although she refused to leave a van taking her to jail when returned to her home.

And her father said the change of mind would ridicule Islam, which bans Muslims from consuming alcohol.

"The warrant cannot be executed," Sharafuddin Zainal Ariffin, head of enforcement for Pahang's Islamic Affairs Department, told reporters after Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was returned to her house.

It was not immediately clear whether the sentence, the first time a woman has been sentenced to caning here, had been overturned or merely postponed.

Both the woman, a Malaysian who has two children and who had worked as a nurse in Singapore, and her father had called for the sentence to be carried out quickly and in public.

Kartika was to have been taken to another state to be caned some time this week.

"I will not come out without a black and white document explaining the status of what has happened. I am surprised and speechless," Kartika told reporters.

Her father said the change of mind would bring "ridicule" on Islam. "We had already accepted the punishment," Shukarnor Mutalib, told reporters. - Reuters

2. [MALAYSIA TODAY] AP — Islamic officials Monday abruptly released a Muslim model scheduled to be caned this week for drinking beer, in an unexpected twist for a defendant who was expected to become the first Malaysian woman to face the corporal punishment.

Two female and one male officials came to the house of Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno in northern Malaysia on Monday and took her away in a van on what was supposed to be a four-hour road journey to a prison near Kuala Lumpur, the country's main city.

But they returned after about 30 minutes and said they had received "instructions from the higher powers" to release her, said Kartika's father, Shukarno Abdul Muttalib. The officials said that "for now, the sentence cannot be carried out," Shukarno said.
It was not immediately clear whether Kartika would be taken back into custody later. Islamic officials declined to comment.

Shukarno said he and Kartika would head to a district police station to file statements about her abrupt release. He said they were confused about what had happened and were worried that officials might later accuse his daughter of running away from them.

Officials had said earlier that Kartika, a 32-year-old mother of two, would be caned sometime during the week but no specific date was set. Amnesty International had condemned the decision, and many critics had said the caning would harm Malaysia's reputation as a moderate Muslim country.

Kartika was arrested in a raid for drinking beer at a hotel lounge last year for breaching the Muslim-majority country's Shariah law, which forbids Muslims to consume alcohol.

She was sentenced by a Shariah court in July in what was considered a warning to other Muslims to abide by religious laws. Kartika did not appeal and said she was willing to be caned.

Dressed in a full-length cream-and-red satin gown and a head scarf, Kartika emerged from her house and walked past a group of about 50 local Muslims who said prayers for her.

After a last kiss with her 5-year-old daughter, she got into the silver van along with her sister and the Islamic officials.

She did not speak to the horde of media assembled outside the house in the countryside, about 5 miles (7 kilometers) from Karai town in the northern Perak state.

In an interview with The Associated Press last week, Kartika had said she wants to be caned because "I want to respect the law."

The law provides for a three-year prison term and caning for Muslims caught drinking, but most offenders are fined. Drinking is legal for non-Muslims....

Rencana berkaitan dengan alasan/halangan untuk melaksanakan hukuman sebat itu boleh dibaca melalui pautan di bawah ini:

* Kartika 'can sue Pahang Government'
* Legalities complicate Kartika's caning


Yang paling menarik perhatian saya ialah kenyataan Menteri Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil yang saya pautkan dalam laporan Harian Metro hari ini. Katanya, “Saya nasihatkan Kartika memohon semakan (revision) ataupun merayu (appeal) hukuman ini bukan sahaja untuk kepentingan beliau dan keadilan dilaksanakan, tetapi keputusan ini akan mewujudkan satu precedent (tindakan perintis) yang tidak sihat dan memberi gambaran negara Malaysia mengamalkan sistem syariah yang amat menggerunkan untuk kaum wanita.” Secara peribadi, saya rasa gerun apabila membaca kenyataannya, malah kurang sihat sifatnya apabila diucap oleh menteri yang mewakili parti yang kunun-kununnya mempertahankan Islam.

Selain menteri ini, saya tertarik juga untuk memetik kiriman terbaru Che Det. Kata mantan PM itu, " Tahun ini kita akan sambut Hari Merdeka dengan menyebat seorang wanita Melayu kerana minum beer. Cerita hukum sebat telah disebar luas di seluruh dunia. Saya tak tahu apakah ini akan memberi imej baik atau tidak baik kepada agama Islam. Sebagai orang Islam kita tidak harus ambil berat pandangan orang lain terhadap Islam dalam melakukan suruhan agama. Tetapi benarkah hukuman ini tepat bagi jenayah minum arak? Apakah hukuman ini terdapat dalam undang-undang syariah di Malaysia." Selepas dua dekad menerajui negara, perlukah Che Det menimbulkan persoalan itu?

Mungkin persoalan itu terjawab dengan merujuk artikel dalam laman sesawang Persatuan Peguam Syarie Malaysia yang ditulis oleh Mohammad Isa Abd Ralip yang menyatakan bahawa "Kesalahan itu disabitkan mengikut Seksyen 136 Enakmen Pentadbiran Agama Islam dan Adat Resam Melayu Pahang 1982 dan dihukum mengikut Seksyen 4 Enakmen Pentadbiran Agama Islam dan Adat Resam Melayu Pahang (Pindaan) 1987. Tindakan Hakim Syarie, Datuk Abdul Rahman Yunus menjatuhkan hukuman itu selepas wanita terbabit mengaku bersalah meminum arak di Hotel Legend Cherating, tahun lalu, adalah wajar hingga disifatkan oleh Mufti Perak, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria sebagai tindakan berani dan tepat berdasarkan hukum syariah." Untuk mengetahui dengan lebih lanjut tentang hukuman minum arak seperti yang dinyatakan dalam al Quran pula sila klik sini.


Sedangkan Kartika sebelum ini mahukan hukuman itu dijalankan secara terbuka agar perilaku negatifnya itu dapat dijadikan pengajaran kepada orang lain. Malah hari ini seperti dilaporkan dalam media, Kartika menegaskan bahawa "Saya tidak akan menyaman mana-mana pihak,” kata model sambilan, Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor, 32, mengulas kenyataan Ketua Hakim Syarie Terengganu, Datuk Ismail Yahya, bahawa penahanan dan hukuman sebatan dikenakan kepadanya sebagai melampaui batasan." Keluarga Kartika juga mengatakan “Media datang ke rumah dan ada yang menghubungi kami. Dia menjawab semua soalan dengan ikhlas dan bukan kami yang minta media datang. Buat apa hendak menarik simpati, kami menghormati undang-undang dan Kartika akan menjalani hukuman ditetapkan mahkamah.”

Dalam hal ini saya bersetuju dengan Ketua Pendakwa Syarie Jabatan Agama Islam Pahang (Jaip), Datuk Abdul Rahim Jaafar. Menurut beliau, “Banyak sangat nak jadi hakim, sekiranya tidak tahu menahu mengenai kes ini, saya minta tidak perlulah komen, hormatilah keputusan Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah Kuantan (Datuk Abdul Rahman Yunus)...usah sensasikan lagi perkara ini. Beliau mengulas pandangan beberapa pihak dalam sebuah akhbar, semalam, termasuk Ketua Hakim Syariah Terengganu, Datuk Ismail Yahya yang berkata penahanan untuk pelaksanaan hukuman sebatan terhadap model sambilan, Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, sebagai keputusan melampaui kuasa hakim.” Semoga wanita yang bernama Kartika ini akan menjalani kehidupan yang lebih dekat dengan ajaran Islam pada masa akan datang dan "kesudiannya" menerima hukuman itu menjadi pengajaran kepada orang lain.