Two Christians publicly flogged in Indonesia for drinking, gambling

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Christian flogged Two Christians publicly flogged in Indonesia for drinking, gambling

Two Christian men were publicly flogged Monday in Indonesia’s ultra-conservative Aceh province for drinking alcohol and gambling, in a rare instance of non-Muslims facing a punishment frequently condemned by rights groups.

The caning comes less than two weeks after a male couple were flogged nearly 80 times each for having gay sex, which is outlawed under local Islamic law.

On Monday, the two accused received 40 lashes each from a masked sharia officer who beat their backs with a stick.

One of them, identified only as JF, said he chose flogging to avoid a criminal prosecution that could have seen him jailed up to six months.

“The Sharia police gave us options and we consciously decided to comply with the Islamic criminal code. No one forced me to choose it,” he told AFP.

Aceh is the only province in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country that imposes Islamic law.

Non-Muslims who have committed an offence that violates both national and religious laws can…



Source: Vanguard Newspaper