Six men who were caught online gambling have been publicly thrashed with canes in a brutal punishment enforced only in the most conservative region of Indonesia.
The province of Aceh is the only area that practices Sharia law in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, and the only region where floggings take place.
Horrifying pictures show the thrashings being meted out by judicial ‘executioners’ known as ‘algojos’.
According to the head of the Jantho city district attorney’s office, Jemmy Novian Tirayudi, the caning sentence was carried out on six Aceh residents who were caught gambling.
The regional government considers gambling, drinking alcohol, same-sex relationships and sex outside of marriage, to be violations of the law.
Horrifying pictures show the thrashings being meted out by judicial ‘executioners’ known as ‘algojos’
A cane makes contact with a prisoner’s back as he is thrashed in the province of Aceh, Indonesia
Sharia police lead a prisoner to receive his punishment after he was reportedly caught gambling – illegal under Sharia law
Pictures of the canings show prisoners being led by Sharia police from prison vans to stand beneath a canopy.
An officer holds a bundle of stiff wooden canes, which he is then seen handing over to an algojo has he prepares to inflict the violent punishment.
His victims are seen wearing long white robes, and bow their heads as they receive the thrashes.
It comes after, shocking pictures emerged earlier this year of two couples being thrashed after allegedly having sex outside marriage, breaking Aceh’s strict laws on gender relations.
Increasingly strict laws were introduced by the region’s government last year aimed at ‘reducing sin’ by keeping the opposite sexes apart.
Men and women who are not related or married are forbidden from being in close quarters in public places or vehicles
Lawmakers said the tightened legislation is intended ‘to mold a generation of people who faithfully comply with Islamic values in their daily lives.’
An officer holds a bundle of stiff wooden canes, which he is then seen handing over to an algojo
The victims are led from prison vans to receive their punishments on August 30, 2024
An executor known as ‘algojo’ conducts a public caning punishment in the city of Jantho, Aceh
‘Men and women who are not married or related cannot sit together in public places, secluded places or in vehicles,’ according to the official notice.
As part of the crackdown on socialising, authorities also ordered the province’s 24-hour coffee shops to close at midnight, limiting the most popular source of entertainment in the region.
The mayor of Banda Aceh, the capital of the region, warned that he would deploy the Sharia Police to ensure compliance with the new rules.
Sharia law was given to Aceh by the central government in Jakarta as part of the region’s bid for autonomy in 2001.
Officers watch on as a man, who is seen clenching his fists, is caned in Indonesia
A man who is about to receive a public caning for violating Sharia law is escorted by Sharia Police in Jantho
Amnesty International Indonesia‘s monitoring found that Aceh authorities had carried out at least 60 public floggings against 254 people in 2020.
Back in 2019, reports emerged that a woman and a man lost consciousness as they were whipped during separate public punishments on the same day.
In 2021, two men accused of same-sex ‘offences’ were caned 77 times each in front of a 100-strong crowd.
Usman Hamid, Amnesty International Indonesia’s Executive Director, said at the time: ‘No-one deserves to be brutalised and humiliated in this way… Flogging constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and can amount to torture.
‘We strongly urge both the Aceh and central government authorities to take immediate action to halt this cruel practice and revoke the bylaws that allow them to take place.’