Prisoners are publicly whipped for ‘gambling’ in brutal Sharia punishment in Indonesia

Six men caught gambling online have been publicly beaten with sticks, a brutal punishment only seen in Indonesia’s most conservative region.

Aceh province is the only area in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world where Sharia law is in force. It is also the only region where floggings are practiced.

Gruesome images show the beatings being meted out by judicial ‘executions’, also known as ‘algojos’.

According to the head of the Jantho city public prosecutor’s office, Jemmy Novian Tirayudi, the floggings were carried out against six Acehnese residents who were caught gambling.

The regional government considers gambling, alcohol consumption, same-sex relationships and sex outside marriage as violations of the law.

A stick hits a prisoner in the back as he is being beaten in Aceh province, Indonesia

Sharia police direct prisoner to punishment after he was allegedly caught gambling – illegal under Sharia law

Photos of the floggings show prisoners being led out of prison vans by Sharia police and placed under a canopy.

An officer holds a bundle of stiff wooden sticks, which he then hands to an algojo as he prepares to administer the violent punishment.

His victims are seen wearing long white robes and bowing their heads as they endure the beatings.

This came after shocking footage emerged earlier this year of two couples being beaten up after allegedly having sex outside of marriage, in violation of Aceh’s strict gender relations laws.

Last year, the region’s government introduced increasingly strict laws aimed at “reducing sin” by keeping the sexes separate.

Men and women who are not related or married are not allowed to be in close quarters in public places or in vehicles.

Lawmakers said the tightened legislation is aimed at “building a generation of people who will faithfully adhere to Islamic values ​​in their daily lives.”

An officer holds a bundle of stiff wooden sticks, which he then hands to an algojo

The victims are led out of prison vans to receive their sentences on August 30, 2024

An executioner, known as an ‘algojo’, carries out a public caning in the town of Jantho, Aceh

“Men and women who are not married or related to each other are not allowed to sit together in public places, secluded places or in vehicles,” the official statement said.

As part of strict measures against social contact, authorities have also ordered the province’s 24-hour coffee shops to close at midnight, curtailing the region’s most popular form of entertainment.

The mayor of Banda Aceh, the regional capital, warned that he would deploy Sharia police to ensure compliance with the new rules.

Sharia law was introduced in Aceh by the central government in Jakarta as part of the regional autonomy bid in 2001.

Officers watch as a man clenching his fists is beaten with a baton in Indonesia

A man about to be publicly caned for violating Sharia law is escorted by Sharia police in Jantho

Amnesty International Indonesia’s monitoring found that authorities in Aceh carried out at least 60 public floggings against 254 people in 2020.

In 2019, reports emerged that a woman and a man lost consciousness after being flogged during separate public punishments on the same day.

In 2021, two men accused of same-sex “crimes” were each caned 77 times, in front of an audience of 100.

Usman Hamid, director of Amnesty International Indonesia, said at the time: ‘No one deserves to be abused and humiliated in this way… Flogging is cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and may amount to torture.

“We strongly urge both the Acehnese and central governments to take immediate action to stop these cruel practices and repeal the regulations that allow it.”