Banda Aceh, Indonesia: An Indonesian man who worked for a clerical organisation that advises a local government on Islamic law and helped draft adultery laws has been caned in public for adultery, an official said.
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Mukhlis bin Muhammad, 46, a member of the Aceh Ulema Council (MPU), was caned 28 times on Thursday in a public park by a religious officer, the official said.
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The woman he had the sexual relationship with was flogged, also in public, receiving 23 lashes.
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The punishments took place in ultra-conservative Aceh, the sole province in Indonesia – the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation – that applies sharia law. It was granted autonomy in 2001.
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Public floggings and canings – which many Acehnese support – have become common there since they were introduced in 2005, and are administered for a range of offences also including theft and gambling. The province outlawed homosexuality in 2014.
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MPU advised the Aceh government in drafting its current version of sharia. Muhammad’s role in the organisation was not disclosed.
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Husaini Wahab, a senior official in Aceh Besar district, said canings were meant to serve as a reminder to locals to adhere to the Islamic criminal code.
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“It doesn’t matter whether he is an ulema, an imam, or an ordinary citizen, the government does not discriminate,” he said, adding that Muhammad could no longer belong to the MPU.
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Rights groups have called for public floggings and canings to be discontinued.
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Indonesia is home to a number of religious and ethnic minorities and has been seen as an example of how democracy and Islam can co-exist. But rising conservatism has in recent years spurred religious intolerance there.
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