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Aceh police cane three for gambling
Three Daya Daboh men were caned Friday on charges that they were gambling in the front of Al Munawarah Mosque in Jantho, Aceh, under a penalty dictated by Islamic sharia law
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hree Daya Daboh men were caned Friday on charges that they were gambling in the front of Al Munawarah Mosque in Jantho, Aceh, under a penalty dictated by Islamic sharia law.
Muktar Rahmadi, Hasbi Bin Acek and Suherman were arrested with 18 other people last month for gambling at a card game during a wedding ceremony.
The trio each received seven strokes of the cane. A fourth defendant, Yasin Bin Usman, was not caned because of an illness.
Police confiscated a deck of playing cards and Rp 2,861,000 (US$314) in cash at the crime scene.
“They killed time by playing cards while waiting for the next morning, when they planned to slaughter a cow,” Aceh police detective chief Agung Prasetyo said.
Zulkifli, a government official, said the caning would deter future criminal activity.
Caning has been a penalty for criminal offenses in Aceh since 2003, as part of the province’s implementation of sharia law.
“We hope the punishment will reduce the number of criminals,” he said.
Sharia law stipulates that criminals may be caned for a variety of offenses.
People convicted of promulgating religious beliefs other than Islam to Muslims in the Aceh may be caned, for example.
Muslims who miss Friday evening prayers three times in a row without an excuse can be fined Rp 2 million, sentenced to six months in prison or given three strokes of the cane, under sharia law.
Vendors who operate food stalls during Ramadhan, the Muslim fasting month, may also be caned.
Vendors who sell food, beverages or cigarettes, whether in public or in secret, during Ramadan
can be fined up to Rp 4 million, sentenced to a year in prison or given five strokes of the cane, under sharia law.
