Indonesia Court Orders 85 Lashes for Two Men Over Gay Sex In Shocking Shariah Justice- wna24

Banda Aceh: In a shocking ruling, an Islamic Shariah court in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Monday, sentenced two men to 85 public caning for engaging in gay sex.

The couple, aged 24 and 18, respectively, were arrested on Nov 7, 2024, after neighborhood vigilantes in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, suspected them of being gay and broke into their rented room to catch them naked and hugging each other.

The judge leading the bench said that the two college students were “legally and convincingly” proven to have had gay sex and would receive 85 and 80 strokes respectively.

“During the trial it was proven that the defendants committed illicit acts, including kissing and having sex.“ said the judge.

Sakwanah, who goes by a single name like many Indonesians. ”As Muslims, the defendants should uphold the Shariah law that prevails in Aceh,” she added.

Prosecutors had initially called for 80 strokes each, but the judges imposed a harder punishment on the older man, believing he had encouraged the act and provided the location for it.

The lead judge said the three-judge panel decided against imposing the maximum sentence of 100 lashes because the men were outstanding students who were polite in court, cooperated with authorities and had no previous convictions.

Both the prosecutors and the lawyers representing the two men have accepted the sentence and confirmed they will not appeal.

Banda Aceh is known for its stronger religious adherence compared to any other regions in Muslim-majority Indonesia and is the only province permitted to implement a version of Islamic Shariah law.

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 separatist war. A religious police and court system have been established, and the new law is a significant strengthening of Shariah in the region. Each year since then, more than 100 people have been publicly caned.

Caning is also a punishment in Aceh for gambling, drinking alcohol, women who wear tight clothes and men who skip Friday prayers.

Banda 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, and allows up to 100 lashes for morality offenses including gay sex and sex between unmarried people. This will be the third time that Aceh has caned people for homosexuality.