An Indonesian woman was whipped 100 times for adultery on Thursday in the conservative province of Aceh, the only region in Indonesia that applies Islamic Sharia law, while her partner, who denied the charges, received only 15 lashes.
The court handed down a heavier sentence for the woman because she confessed to investigators that she cheated on her husband, said Ivan Najjar Alavi, the head of the general investigations division at the prosecutor's office. Conversely, the judges did not believe they could condemn his companion, who was also married, to such a severe sentence.
“During the trial he didn't admit anything, he denied all the charges. Thus, (the judges) are not able to prove his guilt
,” Ivan Najjar Alavi told reporters after the public flogging of the offenders. As an alternative punishment, he was found guilty of
'showing signs of affection to a woman other than his wife'
.
The couple were surprised by locals at a palm oil plantation in 2018.
Whipped, the woman found it difficult to bear the pain.
His ordeal was briefly interrupted, noted an AFP journalist.
That same day, another man, convicted of having sex with a minor, was beaten 100 times in the same way.
He will also have to spend 75 months in prison, according to prosecutors.
Dozens of people came to watch the punishments.
The scene was filmed and then broadcast on social networks.
A region where sharia is imposed
A spectacle criticized by human rights defenders, who denounced the cruelty of this practice, although it is supported by the population of Aceh, whose five million inhabitants are 98% Muslim. This very conservative province has enjoyed relative independence since an agreement reached with central authorities in Jakarta in 2005 to end a decades-long conflict with pro-independence rebels.
Wearing the veil is compulsory for women, adultery, sexual relations outside marriage or with a person of the same sex are punished.
Consumption of alcohol or gambling is prohibited.
The cinema is banned, to avoid "un-Islamic" behavior.
The Aceh region once considered beheading for the most serious crimes, but the Indonesian government vetoed it.
In 2019, 43 men and 42 women were officially sentenced to flogging for religious crimes in the city of Banda Aceh alone.
