Two gay men sentenced to 85 lashes in indonesia

A Sharia court in Indonesia's Aceh province has
 sentenced two men to be caned in public for having gay sex.

The men were found guilty of violating strict Islamic
 laws in conservative Aceh and will receive 85 lashes each.

The pair, aged 20 and 23, were found in bed together by
vigilantes in March. They have not been identified.

Gay sex is not illegal in the rest of Muslim-majority
 Indonesia and this is its first such conviction. Aceh is 
the only province where Sharia is in force.

The sentence is due to be carried out next week.

While the judges did not give the maximum
 punishment of 100 lashes, the sentence is heavier than 
the 80 lashes asked for by the prosecution.

Public caning sentences have been handed down
 previously only for gambling and drinking alcohol.

Aceh has become increasingly conservative in recent 
years. Strict laws against homosexuality were passed
 in 2014 and came into effect the following year.

Judge Khairil Jamal told the court that the men
 had been "proven legally and convincingly guilty of committing gay sex", according to the AFP news agency.

When the sentence was being read out, the two men 
covered their faces with their shirt and hands.

Local officials claim that Sharia law is in line with
 Aceh's long Islamic tradition. Munawar, an official 
in charge of overseeing the implementation of the law, 
says "people want to implement comprehensive Islamic teachings including the enacting of its criminal code".

He also says the Qanun Jinayat - as the Islamic 
criminal law enacted in Aceh in 2015 is known locally - is an effective deterrent.

The law covers the consumption, production and 
distribution of alcohol; gambling; adultery; extra-marital sex and homosexual acts.

Punishments include caning and imprisonment, but not stoning.

Rights activists tried last year to repeal some provisions 
in the Qanun Jinayat, arguing that it was against human 
rights and Indonesia's national criminal code - but that was rejected by the Supreme Court.

The caning sentence handed down on Wednesday 
has been condemned by human rights groups and activists.

"I see this as a criminalisation, a step back for
 Indonesia and violation to human rights," Dede Oetomo, founder of Gaya Nusantara, an organisation advocating LGBT rights said after the verdict.

Ahead of the ruling, Human Rights Watch had called on Indonesia to release the two men, saying that "the verdict
 will increase fear among LGBT people not only in Aceh but also in many other, especially conservative provinces" in Indonesia.

The men will be caned during a public ceremony on
 23 May in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh - where they were found by vigilantes.

The neighbourhood group filmed themselves kicking
 and beating the pair and the video was shared widely in Indonesia. Rights groups say anti-gay sentiment is 
growing in the country.

Aceh was granted special rights to introduce its own
 stricter Islamic laws more than a decade ago.