BANDA ACEH (AFP) – Four men were flogged in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province yesterday for engaging in online gambling, local officials said, the first public lashing of the year under the region’s strict Islamic law.
Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, is the only province in the Muslim-majority nation where offences such as gambling, adultery, and alcohol consumption are punishable by public caning.
In front of dozens of people at a public park in Banda Aceh city, one man received 22 lashes while three others were caned eight and nine times, depending on their betting and income, said Islamic law enforcement chief Roslina, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
The men grimaced in pain as an executioner flogged their backs with a stick, after an Islamic leader delivered a sermon on repentance, according to an AFP reporter on the ground.
“One person received more lashes… because their wager and winnings exceeded the equivalent of two grammes of gold. Meanwhile, the other three… were below that threshold,” Roslina told AFP.
The men had been caught red-handed gambling online at an Internet cafe, she said.
