BANDA ACEH (Monitoring) – An Islamic court in Indonesia’s Aceh province has sentenced two male college students to 80 lashes each in public after finding them guilty of engaging in what the court described as acts leading to same-sex relations, namely kissing and hugging.
The ruling was delivered on Monday by the Shariah District Court in Banda Aceh following a closed-door trial. Judges in such cases have the discretion to limit proceedings to protect the accused, making the verdict the only public part of the hearing.
According to court documents, the men, aged 20 and 21, were arrested in April after residents claimed they saw both entering the same bathroom at a city park and informed patrolling religious police. Officers forced entry into the restroom, where they said they found the pair hugging and kissing.
Presiding Judge Rokhmadi M. Hum said the court was convinced the two had violated Aceh’s Islamic morality laws, which criminalize actions that may lead to homosexual activity. Although prosecutors sought 85 lashes for each man, the three-judge panel reduced the punishment slightly, citing their cooperative attitude in court, lack of prior offenses, and strong academic record.
The four months the men have already spent in detention will be credited toward their sentence, reducing the number of lashes by four. Prosecutor Alfian expressed dissatisfaction with the reduced punishment but said he would not file an appeal.
Aceh is the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia permitted to enforce Shariah law, under a special autonomy deal reached in 2006 after a long separatist conflict. The law allows for up to 100 lashes for moral offenses, including same-sex conduct, adultery, gambling, alcohol consumption, and dress code violations.
Rights groups have long condemned the province’s morality laws, arguing they violate Indonesia’s commitments to international human rights treaties. The country’s national criminal code does not criminalize homosexuality.
Since the law came into effect, this marks the fifth time Aceh authorities have handed down public caning sentences for same-sex acts. Earlier in February, two men received up to 85 lashes for similar charges after being caught by local vigilantes.
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