Sentenced Muslim Woman Meets with Malaysian Royalty

Wearing a traditional Muslim head covering, a relaxed looking Kartika Dewi Shukarno arrived at the Pahang Islamic Affairs Council on Wednesday to meet its chairman.

The two met for an hour-long meeting to discuss Kartika’s punishment.

She has been fined and sentenced by a religious court to six lashes with a rattan stick for drinking beer in public.

Kartika has accepted her sentence and is anxious to get it over with.

But the Malaysian government has been slow to make a decision on whether to carry it out.

The incident has drawn fierce criticism from the public.

Some human rights groups claim the punishment is too stiff and threatens to give the increasingly Muslim country a bad reputation.

Crown Prince Tengku Abdullah insisted after their meeting that Islamic Law be carried out.

[Crown Prince Tengku Abdullah, Regent of Pahang]:male, Bahasa Melayu
"We will wait, for a short period of time. If there is no answer from the other party or rather no appeal from Kartika's party, we will then proceed with the whipping."

There is still a possibility that Kartika could appeal her sentence.

If she does, the prince's father, the Sultan of Pahang, has the power to waive the caning.