Two young men ‘sentenced to public caning for kissing’ in Indonesia
Caning is a form of punishment handed down in Aceh for violating Islamic law. (Fachrul Reza/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Caning is a form of punishment handed down in Aceh for violating Islamic law. (Fachrul Reza/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Two men have reportedly been sentenced to public caning for kissing each other in a toilet in Indonesia.
The men, aged 20 and 21, were sentenced in the Aceh province, where Sharia Law is practised, on Monday (11 August). They were arrested in April after police broke into the toilet.
They were sentenced to 80 strokes, the fifth time the punishment has been handed down for homosexuality since the law was implemented in Aceh 10 years ago.
While there is no national law in Indonesia that criminalises 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.
In June, 75 people were arrested in Bogor, in West Java, after a raid on what police described as a gay party. A month earlier, Indonesia’s parliament proposed revisions to a broadcast law that would ban investigative journalism and LGBTQ+ content.
In 2022, lawmakers approved a criminal code, set to take effect later this year, that will make all sex outside marriage punishable by up to a year in prison. Several human rights groups have labelled Indonesia one of the most hostile places on the planet for LGBTQ+ people.
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