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Agence France-Presse

A gay couple were flogged in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province on Thursday, justice officials said, in a public spectacle lambasted by human rights groups.
The two men were whipped nearly 80 times each for having gay sex, which is outlawed in Aceh province under local Islamic law.
The pair, who were not identified, winced in pain and pleaded for the whipping to stop, as a masked sharia officer beat their backs with a rattan stick.
The punishment was briefly halted and the men, both in their twenties, were allowed a drink of water before it continued.
Man who raped child collapses as he’s whipped some 150 times in Aceh
The mother of one man fainted at the sight of her son being whipped.
“Islamic sharia enforcement is final, no matter who it is, and even visitors must respect local norms,” public order official Heru Triwijanarko said.
The men were arrested in November at a rental home where a landlord found them half-naked in their room.
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.
Four others were whipped between 17 and 40 times on the same day over allegations they drank alcohol or met with members of the opposite sex.
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.


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Two Indonesian men publicly caned 80 times each in Aceh for gay sex

A man accused of having gay sex is publicly flogged in Indonesia’s Aceh province. Photo: AFP

A Shariah Law official uses a rattan cane to whip one of two men convicted of gay sex in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. Two men in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province were caned 77 times each after neighbors reported them to the Shariah Police for having sex. (AP Photo/Riska Munawarah)

How a US woman’s ‘elevated lifestyle’ tweet showed what Bali really thinks of privileged Western tourists

Kristen Gray, second left, and her partner listening to their lawyer while meeting journalists in Denpasar, after Gray was marked for deportation. Photo: AFP

This handout picture taken and released on January 20, 2021 by the Bali office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights shows gay US national Kristen Gray (C) and her partner (2R) preparing to leave Bali at the airport in Denpasar, after Gray was marked for deportation after her tweet sparked outrage describing the Indonesian resort island as "queer-friendly". (Photo by - / BALI OFFICE OF MINISTRY OF LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO /BALI OFFICE OF MINISTRY OF LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

American graphic designer Kristen Antoinette Gray, left, walks with her partner Saundra Michelle Alexander, right, to be tested for the coronavirus at a hospital in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. Gray, who arrived in Bali in January 2020 and wound up staying through the coronavirus pandemic, is being deported from the Indonesian resort island over her viral tweets that celebrated it as a low-cost, queer-friendly place for foreigners to live. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Indonesian man who raped child collapses as he’s whipped some 150 times in Aceh

A man is publicly flogged by a member of the sharia police on November 26, 2020. Photo: AFP

A man is publicly flogged by a member of the Sharia police after he was found guilty of raping a child, in Idi Rayeuk, East Aceh on November 26, 2020. - An Indonesian man collapsed in pain on November 26 as he was flogged nearly 150 times for raping a child in conservative Aceh province, where public whipping is a common punishment for violating Islamic law. (Photo by Cekmad / AFP)

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The pair winced in pain and pleaded for the whipping to stop, as a sharia officer beat their backs with a rattan stick
The mother of one man fainted at the sight of her son being flogged



The pair winced in pain and pleaded for the whipping to stop, as a sharia officer beat their backs with a rattan stick.


Two Indonesian men publicly caned 80 times each in Aceh for gay sex

The pair winced in pain and pleaded for the whipping to stop, as a sharia officer beat their backs with a rattan stick The mother of one man fainted at the sight of her son being flogged

The pair winced in pain and pleaded for the whipping to stop, as a sharia officer beat their backs with a rattan stick

The mother of one man fainted at the sight of her son being flogged