2 college students were publicly caned for having gay sex in Indonesia's conservative Aceh
Two men in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province were publicly caned Thursday after an Islamic Shariah court convicted them for having gay sex.
Dozens of people witnessed the caning at a hall in Banda Aceh's Bustanussalatin city park. It's the fourth time that Aceh, the only province in Indonesia to practice Shariah law, has caned people for homosexuality since the Islamic law was implemented in 2006 as a concession made by the government to end a long-running separatist rebellion.
The men, aged 24 and 18, were whipped across the back dozens of times by a team of five enforcers wearing robes and hoods. They were given a break to drink after 20 strokes and their wounds were treated.
The men were arrested in November after residents suspected them of being gay and broke into their rented room, where they were caught naked and hugging each other, and took them to Sharia police.
A Shariah court on Monday sentenced the two college students to receive 85 and 80 strokes respectively, but they were caned 82 and 77 times after a remission for time spent in prison. One of the men had to be carried because he was too weak to move after the last lash.
Two other people were also sentenced to 34 and 8 strokes each for gambling.
Indonesia's secular central government granted Aceh the right to implement Islamic Shariah law in 2006 as part of a peace deal to end a decades-long separatist war. A religious police and court system have been established, and the law was a significant strengthening of Shariah in the region.
Aceh implemented an expansion of Islamic bylaws and criminal code in 2015 that extended Shariah law to the province's non-Muslims, who account for about 1% of the population. The region allows up to 100 lashes for morality offenses including gay sex and sex between unmarried people.
Caning is also a punishment in Aceh for gambling, drinking alcohol, women who wear tight clothes and men who skip Friday prayers.
Human rights groups have criticized the law, saying it violates international treaties signed by Indonesia protecting the rights of minorities.
Indonesia's national criminal code doesn't regulate homosexuality, and the central government doesn't have the power to strike down Shariah law in Aceh. However, an earlier version of the law that called for people to be stoned to death for adultery was dropped because of pressure from the central government.
—-
Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
21 hours ago
- The National
Man charged and inquiries ongoing after Alloa mosque fire
Police attended the Alloa Mosque on Whins Road after receiving reports of the blaze on Monday, June 16. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'Around 4.50am on Monday, 16 June, 2025, we received a report of fire damage to a mosque on Whins Road, Alloa. READ MORE: Angela Rayner does not rule out following US into war in Middle East 'A 36-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection and was due to appear at Alloa Sheriff Court on Tuesday, 17 June, 2025. "A report has been sent to the Procurator Fiscal.' Charity Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) posted on Twitter/X: 'Mosque set alight in Scottish town following a wave of incidents targeting Muslims across Scotland in recent months.' Stand Up To Racism also posted on Twitter/X: "Solidarity to the Muslim community there [and] across Scotland. READ MORE: 'This makes you complicit': Journalist calls out BBC director's Gaza coverage "The race to the bottom by politicians spreading Islamophobia has deadly consequences. It can wreck lives, and lead to the violent riots we have seen in this country." Solidarity to the Muslim community there & across Scotland The race to the bottom by politicians spreading Islamophobia has deadly consequences. It can wreck lives, and lead to the violent riots we have seen in this country#StopIslamophobia #StopTheHate — Stand Up to Racism - Scotland (@SUTRScotland) June 18, 2025 The news of the arson attack comes after a mosque in Aberdeen was targeted in March, where a teenager was charged with hate-related offences. Earlier this year, The National also reported on a Dundee man who hosted a Discord server where people as young as 14 were encouraged to help deport or kill Muslims.
The Independent
2 days ago
- The Independent
Deadly Russia drone attack hits residential building in Kyiv with 14 killed and 55 injured
Russia has launched a major missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight, killing 14 people and wounding 55 in one of the deadliest attacks on the capital in months. Footage shared by the Associated Press on Tuesday (17 June) shows a hollowed out residential building and dozens of apartments that had been destroyed in the attacks, with firefighters attending the scene. Volodymyr Zelensky called the strike 'one of the most horrific" since the conflict began, adding that more than 440 drones and 32 missiles were launched across multiple regions of Ukraine. " Putin is doing this solely because he can afford to continue the war. He wants the war to continue', the Ukrainian leader said in a post on Telegram. The attack came whilst world leaders, including Zelensky, convened at the G7 summit in Canada.
Spectator
2 days ago
- Spectator
A grooming gang inquiry will expose Labour's guilty men
Sir Keir Starmer claimed in January that those who were concerned about the systematic rape and abuse of little girls were 'calling for inquiries because they want to jump on a bandwagon of the far right'. Yesterday, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, promised that victims would finally get the full national inquiry which campaigners have been demanding for so many years. If Starmer has any sense, he will bring out his party's bodies willingly before he is forced to Cooper's statement in the Commons was relatively encouraging. She conceded that much of the (admittedly shoddy) data around child grooming points to 'clear evidence of overrepresentation amongst suspects of Asian and Pakistani heritage men'. She admitted that there is evidence of 'many organisations avoiding the topic [of grooming gangs] altogether for fear of seeming racist or raising community tensions.' The government has also finally promised to collect ethnicity data for these crimes – something successive ministers have been reluctant to do. But why the sudden U-turn? Have Labour ministers suddenly had a collective moral epiphany? How can a cause be 'racist' one minute, and suddenly worthy of attention the next? The answer: Labour have been backed into a corner. They never wanted to have this inquiry. Ministers hoped that the public outrage about the vile crimes committed against women and girls, and the total failure of institutions to protect them, would die down. They thought an inadequate six-month review, with a focus on just a few towns, might be enough to appease public anger. This is not what was delivered. Baroness Casey's audit of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse is damning. The 200-page report which was published yesterday details how institutions consistently ignored victims. An entire chapter is entitled 'Denial'. Girls as young as ten were systematically raped and groomed by much older perpetrators. They were described by those in positions of power as 'child prostitutes' and often treated as criminals while their abusers walked free. The audit notes that a 'significant proportion of these cases appear to involve suspects who are non-UK nationals and/or who are claiming asylum in the UK'. This argument – dismissed as a right-wing dogwhistle just a few months ago – has now been confirmed as fact in a government report. Blindsided by Casey's findings, Starmer changed his tune on Saturday, committing to a national inquiry before the report was made public. So, can we trust the Prime Minister? A quick look at his closest allies answers that question: No. Shaun Davies, the Labour MP for Telford, was elected in 2024 and immediately given a place on the Home Affairs Select Committee – a group tasked with scrutiny of inquiries into grooming. Before that he led Telford and Wrekin Council – one of the areas worst impacted by child grooming. Councils run many of the support services for victims of child sexual exploitation. So how did Davies advocate for victims? On at least one occasion, he seems to have actively stood in the way of justice. In 2016, Telford's Conservative MP, Lucy Allan, called for a statutory inquiry into child grooming in Telford. Contacted by survivors who wanted justice, she set out on a campaign to help them. But Davies rejected calls for an inquiry. He signed a letter to the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, claiming that 'we do not feel at this time that a further inquiry is necessary'. It would take six more years for victims to get that inquiry. When it did arrive, it was non-statutory, meaning the chair was unable to compel witnesses to give evidence. The report found huge failings on behalf of the council. Will Davies apologise to those who felt that he let them down? Today, after Cooper's statement, Davies stood up to speak. Did he apologise? No. Instead, he claimed that Telford chose to have a 'local-based review' (as opposed to statutory) because 'the then Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, and the then local government minister, Rishi Sunak, refused to provide a statutory inquiry into Telford'. He made no reference to the letter that he signed in 2016. Davies is not unique. There are others like him on Labour-run councils across the country, whom victims of the grooming gangs feel could have done more to help them get justice. Is this why Starmer fought as hard as he could against an inquiry? He surely knew that some Labour politicians would be caught in the crossfire. Starmer had no choice but to cave on a grooming gang inquiry. The evidence in Baroness Casey's report is so devastatingly damning that it cannot be ignored. Now, Labour must wait for the inquiry's findings. If Starmer has any sense, he will bring out his party's bodies willingly before he is forced to.
