KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — Kelantan is not the first state to push for public caning of Shariah offenders in the country, it would seem.
Sabah’s Shariah courts had meted out three public whipping sentences since 2014, all for the Islamic crime of zina or illicit sex, The Borneo Post reported today.
The news portal reported the state Shariah Chief Justice Datuk Jasri @ Nasip Matjakir saying that the three whipping sentences were given by the Tawau Shariah Court in 2014 and 2016 and were held in a courtroom.
But Jasri explained that the whipping was done openly due to special circumstances.
“The 2014 case which involved a woman, was supposed to be held in Tawau prison.
“However, the offender was only punished with whippings, so it could not be done in the prison area. The whipping sentence is done at the request of the offender.
“Hence, the prison’s side recommended for the sentence to be exercised in the open court,” Jasri was quoted saying.
The second and third Shariah whippings took place last year when the Tawau Shariah Court found a couple guilty of zina.
However, the couple were this time whipped in a civil court instead of the Shariah court, reportedly due to a request from participants of an unnamed seminar who wanted to see how Shariah whipping is carried out.
According to the news report, the 2016 whipping was recorded and then posted on video-sharing site YouTube, where it was widely shared.
Jasri was reported saying that no laws were committed even if the video of the sentencing in the civil court was shared openly, adding that it helped to educate the public on the difference between Shariah whipping and caning imposed by the civil courts.
Jasri was also reported saying that the execution of Sabah’s open whipping sentences should suffice to help the federal government explain to the public about PAS’ efforts to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965.
However, Jasri was also reported to have refused commenting on the Kelantan government’s move to allow public caning.
