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Couples Busted Under Aceh Shariah Law
September 10, 2011

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Seven couples, including three Indonesian soldiers, were arrested for illegally being in close proximity to unmarried members of the opposite sex during raids in Banda Aceh, Aceh, early on Friday morning, a top official said.

Banda Aceh Deputy Mayor Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal said law enforcement officers swooped on locations throughout the provincial capital, including a burger stall, Ulee Lheu beach and three boarding houses.

Illiza said the public had demanded that the raids be carried out.

“We have received a lot of reports about people selling alcoholic drinks and prostitution in some areas,” Illiza said.

Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra, adopted partial Shariah Law in 2001 as part of an autonomy agreement aimed at quelling separatist sentiment.

In December, New York-based group Human Rights Watch released a report criticizing the region’s Shariah-inspired bylaws and the abusive methods used by the Shariah police, particularly against women.

The report urges the central government to intervene and repeal at least two bylaws in Aceh, the broadly worded “seclusion” bylaw and another on dress codes, which it says are often abused and selectively applied.

The seclusion bylaw makes association by unmarried individuals of the opposite sex a crime in certain circumstances.  

Antara