Removing flogging from public eye in Indonesia’s Aceh draws Islamist resistance
Jakarta: The decision of the Aceh Provincial Government in Indonesia to move flogging from the public arena into more closed spaces has drawn resistance from the public and the local parliament.
On April 12, Aceh’s governor Irwandi Yusuf signed a new rule to ban the whipping of criminals in public.
Under the new rules, it is forbidden to record people being caned with a rattan stick — crowds often film the spectacle on smartphones — and only journalists and adults can witness the punishment inside private prisons.
But members of a controversial group, Islamic Defender Front (FPI), staged a public protest in front of the governor’s office over the weekend — the protest turned violent and several people were arrested by the Police.
The local head of Islamic Defender Front, Muslim at-Tahiry, said he opposed the decision to move caning away from the public eye.
“That is to be a lesson for the perpetrators and the people who watch it. So they really should be embarrassed. This works as a deterrent.” The local Parliament has also rejected the new rule and filed a complaint to the Supreme Court in Jakarta.
“A special session of Aceh’s parliament has officially decided that parliament will take legal action against the governor’s decision and we will ask that the regulation be revoked,” MP Azhari Cage said.
Mr Cage added that the Parliament also questioned the reasoning of the Aceh Provincial Government in linking public canings with startling investors and slow-down in investment in the province. “Since the law has been in force, no society or investors have protested,” he said.
“We agree that investment in Aceh should be improved but it is related to government and community support, the availability of things like electricity. This has nothing to do with the flogging point of view.”