Tag: shariah law

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Gay Men Publicly Flogged For Having Consensual Sex

(screen capture via YouTube)

Two men, aged 27 and 29, were publicly caned 77 times each in Indonesia on Thursday after being reported to the authorities for having consensual sex.

The public flogging, held in a public park in Indonesia’s Aceh province, was attended by dozens of people. Public whippings usually attract hundreds of viewers but the crowd was kept small due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In 2015, Aceh became the only province in Indonesia to adopt religious-based Shariah law. Today marked the third time caning has been used as punishment for homosexuality.

According to the Associated Press, the two men were whipped with a rattan cane by a team of five ‘enforcers’ wearing hoods and robes. The enforcers rotated every 40 strokes in delivering the punishment while the men winced in pain.

Neighbors of the men became suspicious of their relationship and broke into their home in November as the two were reportedly having sex.

A Shariah court ordered the men to receive 80 strokes each but the punishment was reduced as a concession for time spent in prison.

Warning: graphic footage some may find disturbing.

Shariah law allows caning as punishment for ‘moral offenses’ which include drinking, gambling, adultery, men who miss Friday prayers, women who wear suggestive clothing, and those who engage in gay sex. The maximum penalty is 100 lashes.

In addition to the two men, four others received 17 lashes for having extra-marital affairs and 40 strokes for drinking alcohol.

Indonesia has long been a difficult country for LGBTQ people. While Aceh is the only region where homosexuality is explicitly outlawed, authorities have continued to crackdown on the LGBTQ community in recent years.

In 2016, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission banned men from appearing ‘effeminate’ or dressing in drag.

In February 2018, police raided 5 hair salons, forced 12 trans women to strip and cut off their hair in public before arresting them.

In July 2018, the first public caning of gay men took place in Aceh before a crowd of over 1,000 residents. The mob cheered and shouted insults at the two men aged 20 and 23 as they received 85 lashes each.

That same month police arrested 141 men in a raid on a sauna.

And in November 2018, police conducted a beach raid in an effort to ‘provide safety and maintain public order.’ Three transgender women were arrested and hosed down with a fire truck in public to underscore the humiliation.

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Video Mistaken For ‘Gay Wedding’ Lands 10 Men In Jail

When a video clip of a birthday party in Mauritania was posted to social media and wrongly perceived to be a same-sex wedding, authorities rounded up ten men in the video and arrested them. “The prosecutor’s office sent the young homosexual delinquents to prison to await judgment for acts contrary to morality, committing acts forbidden by Allah and circulating a ceremony of debauchery,” a source told Agence France-Presse. Even though police later determined the event in the video was a birthday party, the men remain incarcerated with no trial date scheduled. Mauritania, located in northwest Africa, is governed by strict Islamic law known as Shariah. Article 308 of Mauritania’s criminal code prohibits same-sex behavior between Muslim adults calling such relations as “acts against nature.” In more than half of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa, homosexuality is illegal and can be punishable by the death penalty although Amnesty International reports no executions have been carried out in more than a decade. AFP reports that although investigators established the party was “the birthday party of a homosexual,” the ten men were detained “to help investigations.” Brahim Bilal, the president of a human rights organization in Mauritania, said in a statement the arrests were “a serious attack on the individual and collective freedom of these young people who have the right to display their difference and intimate preferences.” Watch the video which began the ordeal below.

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Malaysia: Gay Men Sentenced To Public Caning Then Months In Prison

A gay man is caned in Malaysia

A gay man is caned in Malaysia
(image via YouTube)
Five Malaysian men in Kuala Lumpur have been sentenced to at least six months in prison and being whipped with a cane for “attempting to have gay sex,” according to Reuters. Additionally, four of the men have been fined RM4,800 ($1,163) and the fifth was fined RM4,900. The men, along with seven others, were arrested last November during a raid at a private apartment and convicted of “attempting to have intercourse against the order of nature,” which is a crime under Islamic laws. Five of the remaining seven men will face sentencing later this month. Calling the sentences “a gross injustice,” LGBTQ activist Numan Afifi – who attended the sentencing hearing today – told news site MalayMail that the sentences were “outrageous” and would “create a culture of fear.” Two Malaysian women were caned in September 2018 as well for “attempting lesbian sex in a car.” The caning of women is banned under civil law but some Islamic states allow it under shariah law. At the time, Amnesty International issued a statement saying the canings marked “an appalling day” for human rights in Malaysia. MalayMail notes that sodomy is a crime under Malaysia’s regular criminal code as well as under Islamic law. However, it is apparently rare for citizens to be found guilty of the crime. Malaysia provides no legal protections for LGBTQ individuals. Those arrested for same-sex encounters face up to 20 years in prison, as well as fines and whippings. (source: Reuters)