Human Rights Watch said in April that public caning would constitute torture under international law.
International human rights groups have described the treatment of the men as abusive and humiliating and called for their immediate release. “As Muslims, the defendants should uphold the sharia law that prevails in Aceh,” Jamal said. He said the three-judge panel decided against imposing the maximum sentence of 100 lashes because the men were polite in court, cooperated with authorities and had no previous convictions. The lead judge, Khairil Jamal, said the men were “legally and convincingly proven to have committed gay sex”.
The second man is repeatedly pushed by another man who is preventing the couple from leaving the room. Mobile phone footage that circulated online and formed part of the evidence shows one of the men naked and visibly distressed as he apparently calls for help on his phone. The men were arrested in late March after neighbourhood vigilantes in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, broke into their rented room to catch them having sex. The sentencing on Wednesday coincided with the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. The chief prosecutor, Gulmaini, who goes by one name, said they would be caned next week, before Ramadan starts on about 25 May. One of the men cried as his sentence was read out and pleaded for leniency.
