Two young men ‘sentenced to 80 strokes of public caning’ after hugging and kissing in Indonesia
According to NBC News, they were arrested in April after residents reported seeing them enter the same toilet at Taman Sari city park
By Callum Wells
Two men in Indonesia’s Aceh province have reportedly been sentenced to 80 strokes of public caning after hugging and kissing each other.
In a recent ruling that has drawn international condemnation, the men – aged 20 and 21 – were found guilty of engaging in what the court deemed “sexual acts”.
According to NBC News, they were arrested in April after residents reported seeing them enter the same toilet at Taman Sari city park.
Sharia law explicitly prohibits homosexuality
Police subsequently broke into the stall and caught the men. The trial, held behind closed doors, concluded with the Shariah District Court in Banda Aceh imposing the punishment.
Prosecutors had initially sought 85 lashes but reduced the sentence to 80, citing the defendants’ cooperation and lack of prior offences. The court also deducted one lash for each month the men had spent in detention.
Aceh is the only province in Indonesia that enforces Sharia law, under which homosexuality is explicitly prohibited. Since the implementation of Sharia law in 2006, this marks the fifth public caning sentence related to homosexuality in the province.
“A horrifying act of discrimination” – Amnesty International
While Indonesia’s national laws do not criminalise same-sex sexual activity, it is prohibited in the Muslim provinces of Aceh and South Sumatra, the Human Dignity Trust reported. There is evidence to support the claim that “anti-pornography” legislation has been used to prosecute LGBTQ+ people. Those found guilty face prison terms of up to 15 years.
Human rights organisations have strongly criticised the use of public caning as a form of punishment. Amnesty International condemned the act as “a horrifying act of discrimination”, emphasising that intimate relations between consenting adults should never be criminalised.
The international community continues to call for the repeal of such discriminatory laws and for the protection of LGBTQ+ rights in Indonesia.