Public caning for 2 Indonesian men

An Islamic court in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province on Monday sentenced two men to public caning, 80 times each, after Islamic religious police caught them engaged in what the court deemed were sexual acts: hugging and kissing.

- BY YAYAN ZAMZAMI

Press TWO Indonesian students prosecuted for hugging and kissing are sentenced.

REZA SAIFULLAH Associated Press

The trial at the Islamic Sharia District Court in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, was held behind closed doors. Judges have the authority to limit public access in such a case and open it only for the verdict.

The two men, ages 20 and 21, were arrested in April after residents saw them entering the same bathroom at Taman Sari city park and reported it to police patrolling the area. The police broke into the bathroom and caught the men kissing and hugging, which the court considered to be a sexual act.