Galuh Wandita – An older woman spoke haltingly into a microphone, her hands trembling from the memory: "They beat my whole body, my eyes and hands were tied. They hit me with a big plank of wood. There were four of them. They hit me on the head, and whipped me with a belt."

In mid-July, the male head of a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in the ultraconservative province of Aceh, as well as one of the school's male teachers, were arrested by police for allegedly sexually assaulting 15 of the school's male students.

Lhokseumawe – Three people were publicly whipped 100 times each in Indonesia's deeply conservative Aceh province on Wednesday (Jul 31), with one woman pleading for the masked sharia officer to stop because she could not bear the pain.

One woman begged for mercy and another sobbed uncontrollably as Indonesia's Aceh province flogged nearly a dozen people Thursday, including a Buddhist man, charged with breaking local Islamic law.

Saiful Bahri I, Lhokseumawe – Female religious pupils (santriwati) from the An Islamic boarding school (pesantren) in Lhokseumawe, northern Aceh, are now required to wear the cadar (full length Islamic veil) in and around their new pesantren.

Ana Salva – Fajran Zain still remembers the days when young lovers from the province of Aceh, in Indonesia, could sit to enjoy the sunset together without having to worry about the religious police.

Jakarta – Acting Aceh governor Nova Iriansyah has lashed out at the notion that oil palm plantations in the province contributed to environmental degradation, saying it was impossible for Acehnese farmers to harm the environment.

Amy Chew – Women in Indonesia's ultraconservative province of Aceh have opposed efforts to legalise polygamous marriages through a special by-law being debated in the local legislature.

Acehnese women fear the law would lead to polygamy becoming a "tradition" and part of the lifestyle in their society, affecting on their rights and their children's.

Afif – The North Aceh regency government has banned women and under age children from going out at night or roaming the streets during school hours without being accompanied by a mahram (husband or male family member) or their parents.

Jakarta – Less than a week after the women's world cup football final drew record crowds and global TV audiences, clerics in a hardline Islamist Indonesian province said attempts to revive the game in the country were "forbidden" unless men were excluded entirely.

Jakarta – North Aceh Regent Muhammad Thaib and 28 mass organizations in the regency have called on women not to go out in the evening without their husbands or muhrim (blood relatives) accompanying them.

Iil Askar Monza, Jakarta – The National Commission of Anti-Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) assessed the plan to legalize polygamy practice presently discussed by Aceh provincial administration and Aceh Legislative Council (DPRA) was not a solution to protect the rights of women in a marriage.

Jakarta – Members of a religious group have stopped the first-ever Base Jam concert in Aceh because of the pop band's alleged violations of the region's strict Islamic law.

Aceh Police chief Sr. Comr. Trisno Riyanto said Base Jam's performance had initially run smoothly before a group of people incited a disturbance as the event drew to a close.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) says that the Aceh Regional House of Representatives (DPRA) does not need to issue a regional regulation (qanun) on polygamy. Despite the current discourse on polygamy in Aceh the matter is clearly regulated under Law Number 1/1974 on Marriage.

Even as soccer fans around the world watched and celebrated the incredible performances of the gifted athletes at this year's recently concluded Women's World Cup (congrats Team USA!), Islamic organizations and ulema (Islamic scholars) in the ultra-conservative region of Aceh in Indonesia have been denouncing plans for a women's soccer league in the region, arguing that women playi

Agus Setyadi, Banda Aceh – A Base Jam concert on the closing night of the 2019 Aceh Culinary Festival (ACF) has been closed down by a hardline Islamic group. The band, which gained fame through hit songs such as "Not Pujangga", decided to leave the stage after the third song.

Jakarta – The draft Aceh qanun (bylaw) legalising polygamy has attracted support and opposition. Some believe that the qanun needs to be supported providing that it includes stipulations on the husband behaving fairly towards his wives.

There are others on the other hand who believe the qanun is in fact an attempt to turn polygamy into a lifestyle.

Jakarta – The Acehnese Regional House of Representatives (DPRA) is justifying a plan by the Aceh government to legalise polygamy on the grounds that it will save women and children who have fallen victim to nikah siri (common law marriage recognised by Islam).

Antara, Meulaboh – West Aceh Ulema Council (MPU) chairman Teungku Abdurrani Adian has expressed support for a plan by the Aceh administration to legalize polygamy.

"Polygamy is legal in Islam, but it has not been regulated in the local bylaws. We [ulema] will support if it will be implemented," Adian told Antara in on Saturday.

A number of Islamic and youth organisations in the Acehnese city of Lhokseumawe have objected to the national-level U-17 Women's Soccer Tournament being held in Lhokseumawe because they believe the event is contrary to syariat Islam (Islamic law) in Aceh.

Masriadi, Lhokseumawe – The Ulama (Islamic clerics) Communication Forum and other youth organisations have objected to the national-level U-17 Women's Soccer Tournament being held at the Perta Arun Gas Stadium in the Acehnese city of Lhokseumawe in July and September.

Aisyah Llewellyn, Banda Aceh, Indonesia – Hendra, an academic in Indonesia's semi-autonomous region of Aceh, vaguely remembers the first time he saw a public caning take place in his 20s. It was years ago and it didn't faze him much.

If Aceh's top ulemas (Islamic scholars) continue their crusade against the popular military shooter video game PUBG (Player Unknown's Battlegrounds) and similar games, the mere act of playing what they deem to be violent games may soon result in, ironically, violent punishment.

Dozens of people stormed a mosque in the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh over alleged ideological differences with a guest preacher delivering a sermon at the house of worship recently, footage of which have gone viral online.

Jakarta – Three subdistrict heads in West Aceh, Aceh province, are at risk of being removed from their positions for not attending Idul Fitri prayers in their areas of jurisdiction, an official said on Tuesday.

Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – The government has asserted that there is no room for any call of referendum in any region of Indonesia, amid reports that some groups in Aceh are demanding referendum on independence for the country's westernmost province.

He's not exactly a beggar, but this man in Aceh is certainly a chooser, and an extremely ungrateful one at that.

On Saturday, a video was shared on social media showing a man in a white thobe going off on employees at an Indomaret convenience store outlet in North Aceh after he only received IDR1,000 (US$0.07) from them for an unspecified donation.

Jakarta – The mayor of the Acehnese provincial capital Banda Aceh, Aminullah Usman, has prohibited coffee shops from serving customers during shalat tarawih (evening prayers) during the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

A man and a woman have been publicly whipped in Indonesia in an archaic punishment for reportedly having sex outside of marriage.

Photographs show a crowd of people, including some laughing, as the couple receive lashes from a cane.

Jakarta – A panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced on Monday evening suspended Aceh governor Irwandi Yusuf to seven years in prison for accepting bribes and unlawful gifts that he later distributed, among others, to his close companion Steffy Burase.

Aceh, the only Indonesian province given special authority to enact sharia laws, has seen numerous instances of human rights violations in their enforcement of their ultra-conservative interpretation of said laws, such as public canings for those caught engaging in premarital and LGBT relations.Aceh seems to also have had an influence in the making of one of Southeast Asia's most c

Agus Setyadi, Banda Aceh – The Brunei Darussalam sultanate has enacted laws ranging from canning to stoning to death for the crime of homosexuality. Prior to enacting the laws, Brunei conducted comparative studies in Aceh to learn about Islamic law.

A group of unmarried couples were whipped in Indonesia's Aceh province on Thursday after they were caught behaving amorously – a crime under the conservative region's Islamic law.

Husaini Endehttp, Banda Aceh – Hundreds of cross-sector women activists in the Banda Aceh provincial capital of Aceh from the Syura Ureung Inong Aceh Association (BSUIA) held a long-march on Friday March 8 to celebrate International Women's Day (IWD) 2019.

During the action, they urged the government to ratify the Draft Law on the Elimination of Sexual Violence (RUU PKS).

Six couples were publicly whipped in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province Monday for relations outside marriage, with at least two women unable to walk after the painful punishment.

Muhammad Ifdhal, Banda Aceh – Aceh Regional House of Representatives (DPRA) Commission VIII chairperson Ghufran Zainal Abidin says that Indonesia's western-most province rejects the Draft Law on the Elimination of Sexual Violence (RUU PKS) which is currently being deliberated by the House of Representatives (DPR)."This RUU must be rejected by broader society because it is potential

Marchio Irfan Gorbiano, Jakarta – The Arun Lhokseumawe Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Aceh, which houses one of the country's natural gas facilities, could be the latest example of the use of underutilized assets to boost local economies, said the State Asset Management Agency (LMAN).

Jakarta – The corruption trial of suspended Aceh governor Irwandi Yusuf began to unfold like a soap opera after his close companion, Steffy Burase, was grilled on the stand about allegedly receiving a portion of the money the former had allegedly embezzled.

Euan McKirdy – Two 18-year-olds were publicly flogged Thursday in the conservative Indonesian state of Aceh for displaying affection.

The college student and her boyfriend each received 17 lashes for publicly cuddling, which is a violation of the state's strict interpretation of Sharia law, according to a government spokesman.

Banda Aceh (AFP) – Two teenagers were whipped in Indonesia's Aceh province on Thursday (Jan 31) after they were caught cuddling in public – a crime under the conservative region's Islamic law.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The rampant destruction of forests in the Leuser ecosystem, a major water source for Aceh, has led to frequent flooding in the province.

Jack Board, Bireuen, Indonesia – For one of the world's most persecuted minorities, in the midst of their struggle, there was always one place they were welcomed.

In another horrifying case of domestic violence in Indonesia, a man from the Bireuen Regency of Aceh allegedly committed a brutal crime against his own wife, reportedly because she wanted to leave him.

A 60-year-old man, identified by his initials HR, allegedly poured boiling water over his wife, identified as M – simply because she wanted to divorce him.

Agus Setyadi, Jakarta – New Year's Eve in the Acehnese provincial capital of Aceh was not celebrated this year as it was in other parts of Indonesia. City residents just passed through the city's streets and there was no gathering of people.

Jakarta – Officials and religious leaders in Aceh have called on Muslims in the province not to celebrate the New Year for religious reasons.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Hundreds of Aceh residents flocked to the Siron mass grave in Lambaro, Aceh Besar, to pay respect to victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that shattered the province and led to the death of over 150,000 people in the province alone.

Thousands prayed at mass graves Wednesday to mark the 14th anniversary of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, one of the worst natural disasters in history, even as aid workers raced to help victims of the latest killer wave to hit Indonesia.

Jakarta – Construction workers on a public housing project in Kajhu Village in Aceh Besar, Aceh, were shocked to find 45 body bags bodies believed to be victims of the 2004 tsunami as they were excavating to build a septic tank.

The workers said they did no know that part of the land for the housing project was actually a mass grave.

Banda Aceh Mayor Aminullah Usman says he will revoke the business licenses of hotels in Banda Aceh that provide facilities for people to celebrate New Year.

John McBeth, Jakarta – He has fallen a long way since evolving from an independence fighter into Aceh's first democratically elected two-term governor, but Irwandi Yusuf's shock indictment on corruption charges throws light on the ugly political underbelly of a province that once earned sympathy around the world.