Aceh: The first public flogging for violation of Shari'a takes place tomorrow
The province is the only one in all Indonesia where Shari'a law is in force. Fr Severi, the only Catholic priest in the area: "In reciprocal respect, the punishment should not apply to Christians".
Banda Aceh (AsiaNews/Agenzie) The first public flogging in Indonesia is set to take place tomorrow, Friday 24 June, 160km from Aceh's provincial capital Banda Aceh. Official provincial government sources said twenty-six people will be flogged; they have been found guilty of violating the Islamic Shari'a law.
The 26 people, who were convicted of fraud, will be lashed with a reed before the main mosque of the area. "The lashes should not produce bleeding wounds," said Mustafa Abdullah Geulanggang, head of Bireuen district. "Should blood start to flow, the flogging must stop."
Fr Ferdinand Severi, parish priest of the Sacred Heat of Jesus Church is the only Catholic priest in the province. He said: "We respect the creed of other religious but in a spirit of reciprocal respect, the use of flogging should not be used for Christians."
In 2001, Jakarta authorized the province of Aceh a Muslim "stronghold" to enforce Shari'a law. Since 2003, an Islamic tribunal has been in place. According to Islamic law, flogging may be used to punish crimes like fraud, adultery, use of alcohol, gambling and "intimacy between a man and woman who are not married".
The Indonesian archipelago has more than 205 million inhabitants of which 87.2% adhere to the Islamic religion. As a rule, Indonesian Islam is quite moderate: Shari'a is applied only in Aceh province. However, recent years have seen an increase in fundamentalism thanks to the influence of Pakistani and Afghan preachers.
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31/01/2019 17:56
