In Indonesia’s Aceh, two Christians choose flogging over jail for drinking, gambling

‘The sharia police gave us options and we consciously decided to comply with the Islamic criminal code,’ one man said

Human rights groups have slammed public caning as cruel, and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has called for it to end

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Medical workers treat a Christian man’s wounds after he was flogged for gambling in Banda Aceh. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:30pm, 9 Feb 2021Updated: 9:59pm, 9 Feb 2021

Two Christian men have been publicly flogged in Indonesia’s ultraconservative Aceh province for drinking alcohol and gambling, in a rare instance of non-Muslims facing a punishment frequently condemned by rights groups.

The caning on Monday occurred less than two weeks after a male couple were flogged nearly 80 times each for having gay sex, which is outlawed under local Islamic law. The two accused received 40 lashes each from a masked sharia officer who beat their backs with a stick.

One of them, identified only as JF, said he chose flogging to avoid a criminal prosecution that could have seen him jailed up to six months.

“The sharia police gave us options and we consciously decided to comply with the Islamic criminal code,” he said. “No one forced me to choose it.”

Aceh is the only province in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country that imposes Islamic law. Non-Muslims who have committed an offence that violates both national and religious laws can choose to be prosecuted under either system.

The caning administered by a member of the sharia police. Photo: AFP