KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - A religious scholar feels the debate over the order to cane Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno for drinking beer had been overblown considering that the punishment is less severe than a school caning.

The punishment is merely to shame the offender and deter would-be offenders, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Islamic Department assistant professor, Dr Zulfakar Ramlee said yesterday.

He said the argument that there was no person of authority to deliver the syariah caning was also a big misunderstanding.

"The requirement for the person carrying out the caning is simple as all you need is someone of maturity and integrity."

Zulfakar, who teaches Islamic criminal law, court procedures and evidence at UIA, said the caning could be easily carried out with the rotan measuring 1.2 metres long.

He said the fully clothed recipient would only suffer some redness in the contact area of the cane which could be anywhere on the back.

Kartika, 32, a part-time model and mother of two, pleaded guilty at the Syariah High Court in Kuantan to a charge of consuming alcohol in public in 2007.

She was fined RM5,000 and sentenced to six strokes of the rotan by the court on July 20.

However, the caning scheduled for this week, was postponed on the advice of Syariah Chief Judge Datuk Abdul Hamid Abdul Rahman who said it was not suitable to carry out the sentence during the fasting month.

Zulfakar said while the authorities had acted according to the provisions of the state syariah in Kartika's case, he questioned the need for a seven-day remand order to jail Kartika for the caning.

"The authorities have the right to issue a warrant to jail her for the caning, but they just need to remand her for a single day.

"The offender just needs to be present at the jail for the sentence to be carried out, that is all."

Zulfakar said urging Kartika to appeal against the sentence was also useless as the appeal period of 14 days had lapsed.

Suhakam commissioner, Datuk Abdul Monir Yaakob also agreed the Syariah High Court in Kuantan had acted in accordance with the State Syariah Criminal Offences Act.

"The judge had no choice but to hand out the sentence of RM5,000 fine and six strokes of the rotan," he said.

"But we must stress that the caning under syariah is not as severe as caning under civil law."

Monir added that there appeared to be a technical slip-up in the order to detain Kartika for a week for the caning to be carried out.

He said the remand order appeared as if Kartika had received two sentences and this is not allowed under the law.

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