Couple publicly caned in Indonesia for TikTok kiss
In Indonesia's Aceh province a young couple was publicly subjected to corporal punishment after a court found them guilty of violating norms.
The reason for the trial was a kiss during a live TikTok broadcast. According to the court ruling, the 22-year-old man and the 25-year-old woman were each sentenced to 25 strokes of the rattan cane for displaying intimacy outside of marriage. The punishment was later reduced to 21 strokes because both had spent about four months in custody before the verdict.
The public caning took place in the Bustanussalatin city park in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh in front of more than a hundred spectators. The punishment was carried out by a group of people wearing special robes and hoods.
The case was triggered by a video recording of the live stream conducted on February 27. The footage showed the couple kissing in a car, and after the recording spread widely on social media, local authorities enforcing Sharia norms launched an investigation. The young people were detained in April.
Aceh remains the only Indonesian province where an Islamic legal system is officially in force. The region received its special status in 2006 as part of a peace agreement that ended a long-running armed conflict between central authorities and a separatist movement. Subsequently, local authorities' powers to apply Sharia norms were expanded, and since 2015 certain provisions of the legislation have also applied to non-Muslims, who make up about one percent of the province's population.
Legislation in force in Aceh provides for corporal punishment for a number of offenses related to public morality. In particular, a maximum penalty of 100 lashes may be imposed for adultery, extramarital relations and same-sex relations. In addition, Sharia norms provide for punishments for gambling, alcohol consumption and a number of other violations, including failure to comply with dress requirements and missing Friday prayers for men. The court also ordered the destruction of the mobile phone and USB drive on which the broadcast recording was stored, recognizing them as material evidence in the case.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International's Indonesia office condemned the sentence, stating that public caning is a cruel, inhuman and degrading form of punishment. The organization recalled that Indonesia is a party to international agreements that require the rejection of such practices.
Source: TheGuardin
