Death Penalty News

Two men were each publicly flogged 76 times this Tuesday in the conservative province of Aceh, Indonesia, after being found guilty of engaging in homosexual acts by a court that applies strict Islamic law. Homosexual relations are banned in Aceh, which enforces a strict version of sharia, or Islamic law, but they are not illegal elsewhere in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country. "The criminalization of homosexual relations has no place in a just and humane society."

The men, aged 27 and 29, were whipped by five enforcers wearing hoods as onlookers filmed on their phones Two men have been caned in Indonesia's Aceh region after neighbours reported them for having gay sex. The punishment took place today [Thursday 28 January 2021] in Tamansari city park in the city of Banda Aceh with dozens of people watching and filming on their mobile devices (see video below). Homosexuality is illegal in the semi-autonomous province under Shariah law, and caning of up to 100 lashes has been used as punishment since 2015. The men, aged 27 and 29, were whipped by five enforcers wearing robes and hoods, reports ABC News.  According to the outlet, Heru Triwijanarko, Aceh's acting Sharia police chief said the men were arrested in November after neighbours became suspicious and broke into their room while they were having sex. "Islamic sharia enforcement is final" Speaking to AFP, Triwijanarko said: "Islamic Sharia enforcement is final, no matter ...

The Idi District Court in East Aceh, Aceh, sentenced M. Kasem bin Abdullah, 35, to death on Thursday after finding him guilty of smuggling 45 kilograms crystal methamphetamine from Malaysia into Indonesia in April 2020. The court's judiciary panel, headed by Irwandi, also sentenced Basri bin Rusli (32), Aji bin Abdullah (45), and Teja Saputra bin Edi Junaidi (23) to life in prison, as well as Junaidi bin Aji (23) to 20 years imprisonment for this drug trafficking case. The judiciary panel also imposed a fine of Rp1 billion on Junaidi bin Aji in a verdict that came similar to the sentences demanded by the prosecution. The East Aceh police officers apprehended 5 convicts in a drug raid operation near a fish farm of Gampong Naleung in Julok Sub-district on April 14, 2020. Coordinated by M. Kasem bin Abdullah, they were found smuggling 45 kg of crystal meth aboard 3 motorboats from Malaysia into Indonesia through the East Aceh waters. The drug raid resulted in the confiscation of 45 kg...

Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA) - The East Aceh police, on Monday, destroyed 45 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine seized from five members of a transnational drug ring arrested during a drug raid operation in Naleung Village, Julok Sub-district, on April 17. East Aceh Police Chief Adjunct Sen. Coms. Eko Widiantoro led the process to destroy the confiscated crystal meth package at the police precinct.  During the event, the police also made the suspects of this drug crime stand in public. The suspects, only identified by their initials as KS (38), BS (32), AJ, (45), TJ (23), and JN (23), are all residents of Julok Sub-district, East Aceh District, Aceh Province. "They are currently being tried at the East Aceh District Court and subject to imprisonment of up to 20 years and death penalty," he stated, adding that the defendants were believed to belong to a transnational drug syndicate. During their drug trafficking operation, they served as couriers, while t...

An Indonesian man working for an organisation which helped draft strict religious laws ordering adulterers to be flogged was himself publicly whipped Thursday after he was caught having an affair with a married woman. Flogging is a common punishment for a range of offences in the deeply conservative Aceh region on Sumatra island, including adultery, drinking alcohol, and having gay or pre-marital sex. Aceh is the only region in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation that imposes Islamic law, part of a 2005 autonomy deal with the central government that ended a decades-long separatist insurgency. On Thursday, a masked religious officer rained down 28 lashes on the back of Aceh Ulema Council (MPU) member Mukhlis after he was caught canoodling with a married woman last month. Mukhlis grimaced and flinched during the punishment in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, before his married companion was flogged with a rattan cane some 23 times. The organisation that Mu...

He had loyally served in the police force for 10 years but was dishonorably discharged last December, not for accepting bribes or disobeying his superiors but because of his sexual orientation. The 29-year-old brigadier, identified as TT, is a homosexual, which he had kept a secret for years until he was ambushed by fellow officers while on a date with his partner on Valentine's Day. TT, an officer at the Semarang Police in Central Java, said that he was nothing but a victim of discriminatory policy and vowed to fight for his rights with the help of local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy groups. “Serving people and the community as a police officer for the last 10 years is my pride. I have given my best and have not made any mistakes during my service all these years. And they fired me like this, for something private that doesn’t harm others. I’m very disappointed,” he told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Wednesday. Dishonorably discharg...

Aceh, the only Indonesian province given special authority to enact sharia laws, has seen numerous instances of human rights violations in their enforcement of their ultra-conservative interpretation of said laws, such as public canings for those caught engaging in premarital and LGBT relations. Aceh seems to also have had an influence in the making of one of Southeast Asia’s most controversial human rights infringements in Brunei Darussalam, at least according to one of the province’s top ulemas. The tiny but wealthy kingdom nation yesterday put into effect a new national sharia-based penal code which could see those caught having LGBT relations stoned to death, despite international outcry. The Aceh Ulema Council (MPU) says Brunei’s new penal code was partly the result of the kingdom’s officials visiting the province to learn about how sharia laws could be implemented. “Brunei [officials] often came to visit the MPU for discussions. Not just Brunei, but also Malays...

A teenage couple have been caned in Indonesia for behaving affectionately in public. Photos and video footage show the young girl, aged 18, being punished in the Banda Aceh, the capital of the Aceh province. She can be sees being led onto a stage and flogged by a masked man holding a long cane. Her boyfriend, 17, is then seen being led to the stage to receive the same punishment. The canings took place in front of a large crowd that gathered to watch the events unfold, holding up phones and cameras to capture the moment. Deputy Mayor of Banda Aceh, Zainal Arifin, said the number one priority was to demonstrate that no person is exempt from the law. “We want the public to know that Sharia Law is implemented without exception,” he said. FIND related content here “Second, Sharia law is not intended to injure anyone.” On the same day, an adult couple were also caned for displaying intimacy in a grocery store. The punishments were carried out despi...

The controversy over the announced early release of firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, and then subsequent government backtracking on, is likely to continue for some time even after the government essentially confirmed that it wasn’t going to happen yesterday . One remaining source of controversy is the suggestion that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s objection to the release of Bashir — who was once found guilty for his involvement in the deadly 2002 Bali Bombing that killed 88 Australians — was what led President Joko Widodo to cancel plans for the elderly cleric’s early release. The president’s chief of staff, Moeldoko, addressed the claim today and denied that the government’s decision on Bashir’s release had anything to do with pressure from Australia. RELATED |  Survivors Outraged As Cleric Who Inspired 2002 Bali Bombings To Walk Free “This is just made up. We are a sovereign state, how could we be pressured on this? Really, who is Australia?” Moel...

The West Jakarta District Court handed down the death penalty on Tuesday to Rizky Albar, 29, and Rocky Siahaan, 37, for their roles in smuggling 1.3 tons of cannabis to Jakarta from Aceh in December last year. The verdicts were read in two separate hearings. "There are no mitigating factors. The defendant is sentenced to death," presiding judge Agus Setiawan said as he read Rizky's verdict, kompas.com reported. The panel of judges found him guilty of being the right hand of an infamous drug dealer named Iwan — who currently remains at large — in the drug's smuggling scheme. Agus said Rizky had been involved in several other massive drug smuggling attempts in the past, which contravened the government's efforts to curb illegal drug circulation in the country. In a separate hearing at the court, presiding judge Avrits sentenced Rocky to death for his role in recruiting several individuals to smuggle and distribute the cannabis. The four ot...