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Indonesia religious body staffer falls foul of own laws

Culled from afp.com

An Indonesian man working for an organisation which helped draft strict religious laws ordering adulterers to be flogged was himself publicly whipped Thursday October 30, 2019 after he was caught having an affair with a married woman.

Flogging is a common punishment for a range of offences in the deeply conservative Aceh region on Sumatra island, including adultery, drinking alcohol, and having gay or pre-marital sex.

Aceh is the only region in the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation that imposes Islamic law, part of a 2005 autonomy deal with the central government that ended a decades-long separatist insurgency.



© CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN Dozens of onlookers watched the flogging, with some recording it on their mobile phones  

On Thursday, a masked religious officer rained down 28 lashes on the back of Aceh Ulema Council (MPU) member Mukhlis after he was caught canoodling with a married woman last month.

Mukhlis, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, grimaced and flinched during the punishment in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, before his married companion was flogged with a rattan cane some 23 times.

The organisation that Mukhlis works for advised the local government and legislature on drafting and implementing Aceh's religious law, including public flogging.

It was not immediately clear what he did for the agency.
The council made headlines this summer when it hit out at plans to form a national women's football league because Aceh did not have a special stadium where only women players, match officials and spectators would be present.