Indonesia's Aceh: Two gay men sentenced to 85 lashes

The men will be caned during a public ceremony on 23 May in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh

A Sharia court in Indonesia's Aceh province has sentenced two men to be caned in public for having gay sex.

The men were found guilty of violating strict Islamic laws in conservative Aceh and will receive 85 lashes each.

The pair, aged 20 and 23, were found in bed together by vigilantes in March. They have not been identified.

Gay sex is not illegal in the rest of Muslim-majority Indonesia and this is its first such conviction. Aceh is the only province where Sharia is in force.

The sentence is due to be carried out next week.

While the judges did not give the maximum punishment of 100 lashes, the sentence is heavier than the 80 lashes asked for by the prosecution.

Public caning sentences have been handed down previously only for gambling and drinking alcohol.

Aceh has become increasingly conservative in recent years. Strict laws against homosexuality were passed in 2014 and came into effect the following year.

The pair have been in custody since they were found together

Judge Khairil Jamal told the court that the men had been "proven legally and convincingly guilty of committing gay sex", according to the AFP news agency.

When the sentence was being read out, the two men covered their faces with their shirt and hands.

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Local officials claim that Sharia law is in line with Aceh's long Islamic tradition. Munawar, an official in charge of overseeing the implementation of the law, says "people want to implement comprehensive Islamic teachings including the enacting of its criminal code".

He also says the Qanun Jinayat - as the Islamic criminal law enacted in Aceh in 2015 is known locally - is an effective deterrent.

The law covers the consumption, production and distribution of alcohol; gambling; adultery; extra-marital sex and homosexual acts.

Punishments include caning and imprisonment, but not stoning.

Rights activists tried last year to repeal some provisions in the Qanun Jinayat, arguing that it was against human rights and Indonesia's national criminal code - but that was rejected by the Supreme Court.

The caning sentence handed down on Wednesday has been condemned by human rights groups and activists.

"I see this as a criminalisation, a step back for Indonesia and violation to human rights," Dede Oetomo, founder of Gaya Nusantara, an organisation advocating LGBT rights said after the verdict.

Ahead of the ruling, Human Rights Watch had called on Indonesia to release the two men, saying that "the verdict will increase fear among LGBT people not only in Aceh but also in many other, especially conservative provinces" in Indonesia.

The men will be caned during a public ceremony on 23 May in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh - where they were found by vigilantes.

The neighbourhood group filmed themselves kicking and beating the pair and the video was shared widely in Indonesia. Rights groups say anti-gay sentiment is growing in the country.

Aceh was granted special rights to introduce its own stricter Islamic laws more than a decade ago.