US EditionIndonesia’s Aceh Province Publicly Flogs Two Men for Same-Sex Relations
The men were sentenced by a Sharia court for hugging and kissing in a public park bathroom, receiving 76 lashes each under Aceh's Islamic Criminal Code, which criminalizes consensual same-sex acts.
- On August 26, 2025, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, two young men, aged 20 and 21, were caned in public after an Islamic Shariah court found them guilty of hugging and kissing in a park restroom.
- Aceh expanded its Islamic bylaws in 2015 to apply Shariah law, including corporal punishment for morality offenses such as consensual same-sex acts, despite past central government pressure.
- Following reports from local residents, police apprehended the men at Taman Sari city park in Banda Aceh after discovering them embracing in a shared bathroom; the case was subsequently handled by a Shariah court.
- Each man was publicly caned 80 times by hooded officials in front of roughly 100 onlookers, while Amnesty International denounced the punishment as an alarming example of government-approved cruelty and unjust treatment.
- Human rights groups called for halting public caning and repealing discriminatory bylaws, noting these practices violate Indonesian laws and international human rights standards against cruel punishment.
28 Articles
28 Articles
Activists condemn public flogging of two men under Indonesia’s Islamic criminal law
Amnesty International on Tuesday condemned the public caning of two men in Indonesia’s Aceh province after they were convicted of same-sex relations under Islamic criminal law. Aceh, located on the northern tip of Sumatra island, is Indonesia’s only province that criminalizes consensual same-sex acts. Under its special autonomy status, Aceh enforces qanun jinayat, Islamic criminal bylaws introduced in 2015 that criminalize adultery, gambling, al…
Indonesia: Two men publicly flogged 76 times for gay sex in Aceh province
Two men were publicly flogged 76 times each in Indonesia’s Aceh province after being found guilty of same-sex relations under strict Islamic law. The punishment, carried out in Banda Aceh, drew condemnation from rights groups including Amnesty International, which called for an end to the criminalisation of same-sex conduct.
Men charged with hugging and kissing are among those publicly caned in Indonesia
Two men in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province were publicly caned after an Islamic Shariah court convicted them of violating Islamic law by hugging and kissing, which the court ruled can lead to banned sexual relations.
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