Jail and whipping for man who drank in public

Malaysian officials today revealed a Muslim man had been sentenced to a year in prison and whipping for consuming alcohol in public.

An Islamic High Court official in eastern Pahang state says the court ordered the man to serve a year in jail and to be whipped six times.

She says the man pleaded guilty to drinking liquor at a restaurant on 27 August.

The man was sentenced by the same judge who in July had ordered a woman caught drinking beer to be caned. Her case is being reviewed after the sentence created an outcry.

Consumption of alcohol in Muslim-majority Malaysia is a punishable offence, but only three of 13 states impose whipping.