Indonesia’s conservative Aceh Province has once again carried out a mass public caning.
On May 12, the Southeast Aceh Prosecutor’s Office punished some 15 convicts by flogging the group with over 200 strokes of the rattan cane collectively. It was the highest number of strokes meted out in a single session in the regency, and signaled that Sharia punishments in Aceh continue to be enacted by law enforcement with seemingly strong public support.
Of the 15 offenders, only one was a woman, yet she received the harshest penalty of all – 100 strokes of the cane after she was found guilty of the crime of adultery. The 14 other male criminals were sentenced to between six and 10 strokes for the crime of gambling.
The offenders had all been convicted under Aceh’s Qanun, or local bylaws, which in turn fall under the umbrella of Jinayat, Aceh’s Islamic criminal law, which differs from Indonesia’s wider Criminal Code.
Qanun Jinayat only applies in Aceh Province and regulates crimes such as adultery, gambling, proximity between unmarried men and women, sexual harassment, rape, and the consumption of alcohol.
