Two gay men begged for mercy as they were caned 77 times each in Indonesia today for breaking Islamic law.
Dozens of people witnessed the men, aged 27 and 29, wince in pain and plead for mercy as a team of five enforcers wearing robes and hoods took turns, relieving one another after 40 strokes.
The men were arrested in November after residents became suspicious and police broke into their rented room where they were caught having sex, said Heru Triwijanarko, Aceh's acting Sharia police chief.
The officer's stick shattered as he struck it across one of the men. It was immediately replaced, local media reported.
The punishment was briefly halted and the men, both in their twenties, were allowed a drink of water before it continued.
The mother of one man fainted at the sight of her son being whipped.
Each man was flogged 77 times, three lashes less than their original sentence, because they had already served three months in prison.
Four others were lashed between 17 and 40 times on the same day, for either drinking alcohol or meeting members of the opposite sex.
A man accused of having gay sex is publicly caned by a member of the Sharia police in Aceh today
A Sharia officer pulls his cane back before whipping a man accused of having gay sex, in Banda Aceh, Aceh province in Indonesia today
An Aceh prosecutor displays the rattan rods uses to punish Sharia violators, in Aceh, Indonesia today
One woman was caned 17 times after being found with her boyfriend.
'Islamic sharia enforcement is final, no matter who it is, and even visitors must respect local norms,' public order official Heru Triwijanarko told AFP.
The official said he suspected 'several locations for homosexual practice' in the region which are 'difficult to reveal'. He called on the public to report their suspicions of behaviour which breaks sharia.
A man bows his head as he is caned by a member of Sharia police in Indonesia's Aceh province
A municipal officer watches a man, who is accused of having gay sex in Aceh, before he is publicly caned today
A woman kneels as a Sharia officer poises to cane her during a public punishment for breaking Sharia law. The woman was sentenced to lashes for meeting with her boyfriend
A woman is publicly caned by a member of the Sharia police in Banda Aceh today. She was caught in close proximity to her boyfriend, which is considered to break Sharia law
Gay sex is not illegal elsewhere in Indonesia and Aceh is the only region in the world's biggest Muslim nation that imposes the Sharia law.
In Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, public flogging is a common punishment for a range of offences that include gambling, drinking alcohol and adultery.
Human rights groups slam public caning as cruel, and Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has called for it to end.
But it has strong support among Aceh's population.
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.
---
Note that this is a little misleading in terms of the background. Aceh had an insurgency/separatist movement. The government allowed it in 2001 to pass Sharia law. It passed the first Sharia criminal provisions in 2003, starting with caning for alcohol, gambling and being together with a member of the opposite sex if not married.
The separatists and the Indonesian government went to Finland, where Martti Ahtisaari, former President (who was later given a Nobel Prize) drafted an MOU which didn't outlaw Sharia law, just said
"The legislature of Aceh will redraft the legal code for Aceh on the basis of the universal principles of human rights as provided for in the United Nations International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights." http://www.acehpeaceprocess.net/pdf/mou_final.pdf
The EU and members paid 15 million euros to setup an Aceh Monitoring Mission to monitor human rights abuses, with 200 foreign observers in Aceh. They observed that in 2006 Aceh passed a law providing for amputation for thieves.
They then concluded 'that's not our business'
Meanwhile Indonesia blames the EU for not intervening, because they were in a dispute with Aceh, so the EU is the one that's in a better position to say 'hey guys, maybe don't beat up homos'
This is from the Mayor of Banda Aceh:
Can I get a thousand likes for killing the gays?
