Aceh sharia police target unmarried couples
Aceh sharia police target unmarried couples
Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
Sharia police said on Sunday they had rounded up at least 36
unmarried women and men for dating in secluded, poorly-lit areas
in Bireuen regency, Aceh province, where 15 men convicted of
gambling were publicly caned last month.
The couples were accused of violating Article 11 and 14 of the
local government regulation on sharia that has been implemented
in Aceh since 2003.
"All the violators were arrested on Saturday night because by
10 p.m., they were still going out together in quiet places," a
sharia police officer said.
The 36 people, comprising 16 unmarried couples and four other
single women suspected of being prostitutes, were caught at a
number of locations across the districts of Kota Juang and
Peusangan.
However, all the detainees were later released after they made
written statements vowing that they would not commit the same
violations in the future.
The police said the raid on unmarried couples that were seen
together beyond 10 p.m. was aimed at enforcing sharia in Bireuen.
In the first implementation of corporal punishment in Aceh,
the Bireuen regental administration had 15 men convicted of
gambling publicly caned on June 24.
The public canings were carried out in front of the Bireuen
Grand Mosque and witnessed by some 3,000 rowdy spectators. The
move also attracted wide attention from domestic and foreign
media. A television station in Jakarta even broadcast it live.
So far, Aceh's Islamic law only regulates punishment for
gamblers, those drinking alcoholic drinks, men failing to attend
Friday prayers three consecutive times and men or women eating
and selling food during the Ramadhan fasting month.
Muslim women who do not wear jilbab or the Muslim head scarf
in the devoutly Muslim province are also subject to punishment
under the law.
However, regulations stipulating punishment for killers,
corrupters and thieves have yet to be implemented.
Ironically, soldiers violating sharia are not affected by the
law as the military has its own special law to deal with crimes
committed by its members.
A law on corporal punishment was passed in Bireuen last March.
Other regencies have not adopted this punishment.
Before the canings took place in Bireuen, Aceh regional
governments had already enforced the Muslim dress code, mandatory
prayers five times a day and the giving of alms.
The sharia system was implemented in Aceh in 2003, two years
after the central government granted special autonomy to the
province in order to curb an independence campaign that Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) rebels have been fighting for since 1976.