http://thejakartaglobe.com/home/indonesian-man-sentenced-to-jail-and-caning-in-malaysia-for-drinking-alcohol/329974
September 15, 2009 Indonesian Man Sentenced to Jail and Caning in Malaysia For Drinking Alcohol A Malaysian Islamic court judge has ordered an Indonesian man to caned and jailed for one year for consuming alcohol, a newspaper reported on Tuesday, weeks after the same judge drew criticism for handing a caning sentence to a woman. The New Straits Times said that Nazarudin Kamaruddin, 46, an Indonesian with permanent residency in Malaysia, had become the first person to be jailed for consuming alcohol in Pahang state in central Malaysia. Rahman condemned Nazarudin for dishonoring Ramadan by not fasting and by consuming alcohol in public, the newspaper reported. He said the accused, who migrated here from Indonesia at the age of 13, led an aimless life and did not have a steady job. "The sentence meted out to him [Nazarudin] is not meant as punishment but to serve as a lesson," Judge Abdul Rahman Mohd Yunos said, according to the paper. Judge Rahman triggered criticisms from rights groups and concerns over the growing influence of tough Islamic punishments in this Southeast Asian country when he sentenced Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old mother of two, to caning for consuming beer. Kartika's case is being reviewed by an Islamic appeals court judge and her caning could be carried out once the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is over. Pahang is the home state of Malaysia's prime minister, Najib Razak, who has pledged to modernize the economy of the country of 27 million people and to win new foreign investment. Reuters, JG
