A court in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province found two men guilty of sexual relations Monday and sentenced them to be publicly flogged, an official said.
While gay sex is not illegal elsewhere in Indonesia — the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation — it is illegal in Aceh province, which imposes Sharia, the Islamic law code.
In November, locals raided a rented room in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh and found the two men — both students at a local university — together. They were taken to Sharia police for the alleged crime of sexual relations.
“The panel of judges at the Banda Aceh Sharia Court handed out punishment for the couple who committed liwath (gay sex),” Alfian, public prosecutor at Banda Aceh District Court who goes by one name, told AFP.
“AI (the 1st man) was sentenced to 85 strokes, while DA (2nd man) was sentenced to 80 lashes.”
The first suspect was handed a heavier sentence because he rented the room and was the one who “initiated the act,” Alfian added.
Public flogging is a common punishment in Aceh for a range of offences that include gambling, drinking alcohol and adultery.
The prosecutor said the flogging could take place before or after the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, which begins next month.
Human rights groups slam public caning as cruel, but it has strong support among Aceh’s population.
In 2021, a couple were flogged for having gay sex.
In January, four men were flogged in Aceh for engaging in online gambling, the first public lashing of the year.
The region started using religious law after it was granted special autonomy in 2001, an attempt by the central government to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.
(Vanguard)