32 Men Publicly Disgraced and Flogged for Gambling (Photos)

 

A group of 32 men have been severely punished for going against strict muslim laws in Indonesia. Dailymail gives clear report why the men met such cruel fate.

 

Covered from head to toe in a jet-black uniform, the masked punishers known as 'algojo' step forth and threateningly flex long wooden canes.

 

The nearby offenders, accused of violating a strict Islamic code, are then pulled before them - to be violently and repeatedly whipped across the shoulders and back. This group of 32 people in Indonesia today became the country's latest caning victims after being found guilty of breaching Aceh's religious laws on gambling.

 

Photographs taken from the public ceremony show the men being paraded before crowds to meet their fate. Nearby, the algojos dressed in identical uniforms sit testing the flexibility of their sticks.

 

 

Men subjected to the ancient punishment stand before the crowd while the algojos strike them across their back with the small and pliable sticks.

 

This is done with such force that those on the receiving end begin bleeding - one man's weeping wounds are seen being covered in a medical cream.

 

Aceh is the only province in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country that is allowed to implement Islamic Sharia law.

 

In September, pictures emerged of a woman being caned after she was accused of having sex while unmarried.

 

Gay sex, gambling and drinking alcohol are all punishable by caning in Aceh which began implementing Sharia law after being granted special autonomy in 2001, an effort by the central government in Jakarta to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.

 

A flurry of new Islamic laws have been introduced in Aceh in recent years, drawing howls of protest from rights groups.

 

 

Earlier this year, Banda Aceh banned women from entertainment venues after 11pm unless they are accompanied by a husband or male family member. Aceh district has also banned unmarried men and women from riding together on motorbikes.

 

Meanwhile, the country's central government has demanded that instant messaging apps remove stickers featuring same-sex couples, in the latest high-profile attempt to discourage visible homosexuality in the socially conservative country.

 

The government move comes after a social media backlash against the popular smartphone messaging app Line for having stickers, which are an elaborate type of emoticon, with gay themes in its online store.

 

 

Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, but is a sensitive issue in the Muslim-majority nation of more than 250 million people.

Ironically, most of Indonesian society, which follows a moderate form of Islam, is tolerant, with gay and transsexual entertainers often appearing on television shows.