An Islamic Shariah court in Indonesia’s Aceh province sentenced two men to public caning on Monday after convicting them of engaging in gay sex.
The men, aged 24 and 18, were arrested on November 7 after neighborhood vigilantes in Banda Aceh suspected them of being in a same-sex relationship. The group broke into their rented room and discovered them naked and embracing.
A three-judge panel ruled that the two students were “legally and convincingly” proven to have engaged in same-sex relations and sentenced them to 85 and 80 lashes, respectively.
“During the trial, it was proven that the defendants committed illicit acts, including kissing and having sex,” said Judge Sakwanah, who, like many Indonesians, uses a single name. She stated that, as Muslims, the men were expected to uphold Aceh’s Shariah law.
The court imposed a sentence lower than the maximum of 100 lashes, citing the defendants’ cooperation with authorities, good behavior in court, and lack of prior convictions.
Prosecutors initially recommended 80 lashes for both, but the judges increased the penalty for the older man, believing he had encouraged and facilitated the act.
Both the prosecution and defense accepted the verdict and confirmed they would not appeal.
Aceh is the only province in Indonesia authorized to enforce Shariah law, distinguishing it from the rest of the Muslim-majority country. The national government granted Aceh the right to implement Islamic law in 2006 as part of a peace agreement to end a decades-long separatist conflict. Since then, the province has established a religious police force and court system, with public caning becoming a routine form of punishment.
In 2015, Aceh expanded its Islamic criminal code to include non-Muslims, who make up about 1% of the province’s population. Under the law, moral offenses—including same-sex relations and extramarital sex—are punishable by up to 100 lashes. This case marks the third instance of public caning for homosexuality in Aceh.
Other punishable offenses under Aceh’s Shariah law include gambling, alcohol consumption, women wearing tight clothing, and men failing to attend Friday prayers.
Human rights organizations have strongly condemned the law, arguing that it violates Indonesia’s commitments to international treaties protecting minority rights.
Indonesia’s national criminal code does not criminalize homosexuality, and the central government lacks the authority to repeal Aceh’s Islamic-based regulations. However, a prior provision allowing stoning as a punishment for adultery was removed following pressure from national authorities.
