Anon Expat (not verified), Indonesia — Thu, 09/24/2009 - 11:11am

Like others here I detest this law; it is a crime against the individuals who will fall foul of it, and against the people of Aceh.

Firstly, to Reza Soltani: This law will not just be applied to Muslims, according to the news reports.

To Mike II: you say you 'will do everything possible to have scholarships revoked, donor programs and projects being closed, and planned aid being cancelled'. Why? Do you really want to punish a people for the acts of leaders that they have rejected? Did you (in the past) withdraw similar support for Russia, Indonesia, the US and UK, many African countries, and so on, when you perceived a problem with their leadership or laws? Normally it is countries where the leaders do not act on the will of the people that MOST need the support, at least on the non-governmental level.

My own points:

1) Note that the people who passed this law were leaving office a few weeks after it was passed to be replaced by their opponents. I think this says something about the people of Aceh and what they want and don't want.

2) I don't know the figures for the local elections, but here in Indonesia voter turnout is generally very low. In the last presidential election I believe only about 6% of the country actually voted (I haven't checked that figure, but it's in the ballpark). So it's quite possible that none of the leaders are exactly 'representative'.

3) Since they were leaving power it seems to me that, repulsive as it is, this is at least politically a smart move for them. They can't lose much in the way of popularity since they're already out of power. If the law stays when the new administration comes in then they are happy. If the law is removed by the new administration (or by SBY, who is of the same party as the new administration) then they can spend the next few years saying that the new administration is against Allah's will, anti-Muslim, and so on, and every time anything hits the news that is related to adultery (eg a politician having an affair) they can cry that they were right, that if their law was still in effect then it wouldn't be like that. Even bad publicity can be good publicity, and they won't lose any of their core supporters, they can only gain new ones. It becomes a campaign issue, raising votes and scoring points for them, and in the run up to the next election it is automatically one of the major points to be discussed as a serious issue, rather than being what it actually should be, a fringe view held by only a few. Lastly it can be used to distract from other more important issues (now and during the next election). I should add, thanks to the excellent libel laws in this country, that this is only conjecture, rather than an accusation or a statement of knowledge! :)

This law should be struck down, and the people who made it should be condemned to obscurity and impotency, since that is the worst fate they can imagine.

PS. The only shame about removing the law is that when one of the people who enacted it gets caught with his pants down engaging in adultery, as might possibly happen in the future, he will not get a taste of his own law.

Francesca (not verified), Von Reinhaart — Mon, 09/21/2009 - 8:10am

Shocking to see part of Indonesia turning into some kind of Afghanistan during Taliban regime. One would expect that religious people are more tolerant and religious preaching is all about peace and being part of creating harmony anbd peace instead of digging graves to burry people alive! When will such hypocrisy be erased from the face of fanatics religious followers who label constantly label people as sinners and non beliuevers? Why can we not be grown ups and embrace decency and promote good virtue? Why focus on killing people and finding the negative sides of life? This new law is such of primitive conduct impose on people. This is the hypocrisy folks see through. Praying 5 times a day, yet murdering people in such barbaric primitive manner is no different to playing God. Unbelievably moroonic. People are treated worse than animals. This is no different to how Christians wore religious to burn people alive non Christians in olden days. How can anyone imagine their father, mother, sister or brother being stone to death in public? What terror would people be left in after such horrid experience? When will the mask of religion be removed from disguised murders and terrorist who play God and is trusted to take care of commoners and ordinary citizens? Why shuld one embrace religion if it's to torture their comfort in life? When will everyone come to appreciate that freedom belongs to every single creature? *sigh*

Widya UTAMA (not verified), Bergen Norway — Sun, 09/20/2009 - 5:43pm

It is very regretable that Acehnese still and remain backwards.Not every one but those who keeping power. The exile leader during separatist movement who enjoy Swedish citizenship for years should have learned how to be a human being. But it is far between Sweden and Northern Tip of Sumatra Island. This punishement law has nothing to do with Islam but barbarian cultur of The Midle East.

Peter ramsey (not verified), jakarta — Fri, 09/18/2009 - 7:07pm

I have just finished watching a great series on CD, ‘The Tudors’, a story about the life and times of Henry the Eighth, King of England, who lived between 1491 and 1547. Amongst others, Henry went under the title of, "Henry the Eighth, by the Grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the Faith, Lord of Ireland and of the Church of England in Earth Supreme Head". Henry was a guy, as one might guess from his Title, who was deeply religious, so much so that he created his own religion, The Church of England. The creation of this new church came about predominately due to the fact that he was excommunicated by the Church of Rome, the Catholic Church, for trying to bend the rules to suit his own needs, which as was Henry’s bent, usually meant disposing of an existing wife to install a new one. So passionate about creating a male heir was Henry, that he got through quite a lot of wife’s, some were even convicted on trumped up charges of treason and the like, and put to death, albeit by Henry’s standards, quite humanely, by the having their head cut off. Henry and his cohorts of this era were quite creative when it came to executions. A cook-out took on a whole new meaning when it came to slowly lowering a victim into a cauldron of boiling water. For those convicted of heresy there was the BBQ of the day, burning alive at the stake. For serious crimes against the power of the thrown, such as treason, a couple of choices lay open to the whims of those in power during these times: some dedicate the invention of the Shish Kebab to the creativeness of Henry’s period, where a poor soul was stripped naked, bent over forcibly, and a red hot rod of iron was inserted into their bottom and pushed further, and further inwards, till the victim died. Another favorite method of dispatching a delinquent soul to his maker was that of being Hung, Drawn and Quartered: in this neat little arrangement of pain a humiliation, the victims were first hung by the neck till half dead, then cut down, disemboweled and their innards burnt before their eyes: in the case of male victims, they were also then relieved of their private parts, and then torn apart by four horses, “Quartered’. If that was not enough, and almost symbolically, they were beheaded. Interestingly, many of Henry’s closest friends fell victim too. One of his closest allies, Cromwell, was executed for corruption. He was relatively lucky though, he was put to death by the axe. Unfortunately some of Cromwell’s enemies thought it would be a great hoot to get the executioner drunk the night before the Cromwell’s dispatch, and due to his inebriated state, made rather a meal of it. In this day and age one can look back at such sadistic acts against fellow human as being almost fictional, we can simply and rightly put it down to the ignorance and brutality of a barbaric era within the history of or World, and of a time gone by. We are more educated, more refined, and more sympathetic to our fellow man: loving, generous and more understanding when it comes to others beliefs and chosen life paths. The World has matured, human beings have matured. One cannot imagine that today, anybody could have such a much disrespect for fellow beings, for a God that many believe created us, and the sanctity of life, to sanction such evil in the name of religion. It is not possible in this day and age that any person could believe, that by torturing another human being to death, that they are pleasing a God that they revere: for such acts would surely condemn the perpetrator to an eternal hell, assuming of course that they were a true believer. I guess that we all need to be grateful that the World has moved on, and that us, the supreme species on this planet, have also moved on.

Rufus Cartwright (not verified), Medan — Fri, 09/18/2009 - 10:47am

Well, they really are living in the year 1430 eh? Wonder what the average IQ of an Acehnese scholar is. They probably don't have any scholars, just an ugly mass of self-appointed loonies who have never read a science journal in their lives. Perhaps Tangerang and Aceh can both be physically separated from the rest of Indonesia and then ejected in a time machine to where they belong.