Indonesian men caned for gay sex while onlookers cheered
Image: A man being publicly caned for gay sex in Indonesia in 2017.
TWO men have each been caned 83 times for gay sex in Aceh, Indonesia.
The canings were administered outside a mosque in the capital of Banda Aceh, BBC News has reported.
The two stood on a stage praying as they were caned.
Onlookers cheered, with one yelling, “let this be a lesson to you”, and another calling, “do it harder.”
The unidentified men, aged 20 and 23, were sentenced earlier this month after they were found together by vigilantes who entered their accommodation.
They had originally been sentenced to 85 lashes each, but this was reduced by two because they had spent two months imprisoned.
In most of Indonesia, gay sex is not illegal, but Aceh is the only province that criminalises it under Islamic law.
Amnesty International called caning a “cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment”, calling on authorities to abandon the practice.
The human rights group said every person is entitled to privacy and to consensual relations, and that the two men had been ambushed in their home.
This is the first instance of gay men being caned under the law in Aceh.
