Death By Stoning For Adultery

Aceh law threatens death by stoning for adultery

Indonesian province's parliament passes bill extending shari'ah law with tough sentences for adultery, rape and homosexuality

Adulterers can be stoned to death and homosexuality is punishable by long prison terms under a new law passed in Indonesia's devoutly Muslim Aceh province today.

The regional parliament voted unanimously to adopt the bill despite strong objections from human rights groups and the province's deputy governor, who said the legislation needed more careful consideration because it imposed a new form of capital punishment.

Some members of the moderate Democrat party had voiced reservations, but none voted against the bill.

The law, which reinforces Aceh's already strict Islamic laws, is to go into effect within 30 days. Its passage comes two weeks before a new assembly led by the moderate Aceh party is sworn in after a heavy defeat of conservative parties in local elections.

The new law imposes tough sentences and fines for rape and paedophilia. Homosexuality will be punishable by public lashings and more than eight years in prison.

The most hotly disputed article states that married couples can be punished for adultery by a minimum of 100 lashings and a maximum of stoning to death.

"The stoning to death is the toughest punishment included in the sharia law," said Bahrom Rasjid, one of the bill's drafters and a member of the United Development Party.

Aceh's vice-governor, Muhamad Nazar, said his office opposed the clause on stoning to death but had no legal power to block it. "Whatever law is passed we have to enforce it," he said.

Aceh enjoys semi-autonomy from the central government. A version of sharia law introduced in Aceh in 2001 already bans gambling and drinking alcohol and makes it compulsory for women to wear headscarves.

Dozens of public canings have been carried out by police as punishment. The majority of Indonesia's Muslims practise a moderate form of the faith, and surveys suggest they do not support such hardline interpretations of the Qur'an.

AP and the Guardian