Indonesia's only province ruled by hard-line Sharia law elects its governor on Monday, in polls watched by militant Muslims pushing for an Islamic government nationwide.
Sharia & Discriminatory By-Laws
Displaying 301 - 350 of 494 Documents
April 8, 2012
March 29, 2012
Broadcast regulators in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, have admonished two Jakarta-based TV stations over live performances by dangdut singer Julia Perez on popular music shows.
Dumai – Casual sex among teenagers in Dumai, Riau, is a cause for concern as out of wedlock pregnancies have been on the rise and have led to fledgling marriages.
March 25, 2012
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Islamic sharia remains the main political sales pitch among gubernatorial candidates to enable them to win the upcoming Aceh regional election scheduled
March 24, 2012
Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Wider implementation of Shariah law, greater economic empowerment and better governance were among the platforms espoused on Friday by the five gubernatorial
March 19, 2012
Anita Rachman & Arientha Primanita – A high-ranking member of Indonesia's highest Islamic authority has urged Muslims not to attend Lady Gaga's upcoming concert in Jakarta, declarin
March 10, 2012
Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Five men accused of gambling were caned six times each while hundreds of people watched in Aceh on Friday.
February 26, 2012
Samantha Michaels & Emily Johnson, Banda Aceh – It's New Year's Eve, and a group of young friends have gathered at an outdoor basketball court in Banda Aceh for a late-night jam ses
February 19, 2012
Dessy Sagita – Calls to ban liquor sales in Indonesia may hurt the nation's tourism industry, an official at the Home Affairs Ministry said on Saturday, commenting on the draft bill pro
February 17, 2012
Padang – State Prosecutor Zulkardiman demanded that two alleged striptease dancers, SS and NA, receive 18 months in prison on Thursday.
February 16, 2012
An Islam-based political party has proposed a new draft bill to ban alcohol sales in Indonesia.
February 13, 2012
For yet another year, Valentine's Day is receiving little love from conservative Islamic groups across Indonesia, who contend the holiday goes against the religious values to which all
February 12, 2012
Jakarta – Dozens of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), Sukabumi branch members rallied at Sukabumi City Square on Sunday to protest the celebration of Valentine's Day that falls on Feb.
January 28, 2012
Tom Allard – With its brightly lit glass cubicles displaying scantily clad women to passing pedestrians, there's no place in Indonesia, or the Islamic world, quite like Surabaya's Dolly
January 18, 2012
Jakarta – After the Home Ministry recently urged regions to revise their alcohol bylaws, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has turned the tables and requested that the minister evaluat
January 17, 2012
Aidi Yursal & Dessy Sagita, Medan – Calls for an Aceh-style crackdown on the punk community have spread to neighboring North Sumatra, but authorities in Medan are taking a more tole
January 16, 2012
James Balowski, Jakarta – A group of music lovers organising a charity concert in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh are the latest victims of the province's discriminatory and
January 14, 2012
Yuli Tri Suwarni and Multa Fidrus, Bandung/Tangerang – A number of regional administrations are insisting on keeping bylaws that ban the distribution of liquor despite the government's
January 13, 2012
Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung, West Java – The Bandung municipal administration has said that it will stick to its alcohol bylaw and continue to carry out inspections on roadside stores and
Keyko Ranti Ramadhani – Women's rights activists have criticized the action of police officers in Tangerang who scolded two girls for wearing shorts prior to a football match.
January 12, 2012
Tangerang Police are defending their actions after a photograph emerged of officers reprimanding what appear to be underaged girls for wearing shorts.
January 1, 2012
Ahmad Pathoni, Banda Aceh – Four people were killed in two separate armed attacks on New Year's Eve in Indonesia's Aceh province, police and a resident said on Sunday.
December 23, 2011
Jakarta – An anti-graft non-governmental organization has alleged that former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), now members of the local `government, were involved in corrupt pra
Farouk Arnaz – Sixty-five punk rock enthusiasts detained by the Aceh Police and sent for "re-education" were released on Friday after 10 days of spiritual and physical coaching.
December 22, 2011
Arientha Primanita & Antara – Muslims students and clerics in staunchly Islamic Aceh on Wednesday came to the defense of the local authorities, saying that punks were trying to unde
December 20, 2011
Arientha Primanita – Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf said on Tuesday that police actions to re-educate punks did not violate human rights and instead showed government concern towards the p
Fakhrurradzie Gade, Seulawah, Indonesia – Mohawks buzzed and noses free of piercings, dozens of youths march in military-style for hours beneath Indonesia's tropical sun – part of effor
Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – About 20 people staged a protest in front of the Indonesian Consulate General in San Francisco, the United States, on Monday in connection with the arrest of
December 19, 2011
Farouk Arnaz – The arrest of 64 punks in Banda Aceh for the alleged crime of being "punk" spurred a group of punks under the name of Solidarity for Aceh Punks United to rally in front o
A group of self-proclaimed anarchist-punks in Moscow have released a video that shows them allegedly defacing the Indonesian embassy in Moscow in a show of support for dozens of punks b
Tifa Asrianti and Novia D.
December 18, 2011
Nurdin Hasan – "We are not criminals but we were beaten up like animals when the [police] tried to arrest us.
The Banda Aceh Ulema Assembly (MPU) accused dozens of youths described as "punks" that were arrested during a concert at the city's cultural park, of manipulating the concert permit.
December 17, 2011
Nurdin Hasan & Dessy Sagita, Banda Aceh – Amid rows of youths dressed in police uniforms, 15-year-old Arismunadar kept his head bowed and answered in brief snatches when questioned
December 16, 2011
Michelle Natalie – News of the recent detainment and "re-education" of some 60 punks in Banda Aceh has stirred up a hornet's nest of outrage among local and international punk rock comm
December 14, 2011
Nurdin Hasan – Indonesian sharia police are "morally rehabilitating" more than 60 young punk rock fans in Aceh province on Sumatra island, saying the youths are tarnishing the province'
Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Deputy mayor Illiza Sa'aduddin Djamal says she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty in her crusade against the punk community of Banda Aceh, proudly telling o
December 13, 2011
Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Dozens of young people were being held and punished by Aceh police on Tuesday for the supposed crime of being "punk," despite not being charged with any crime
December 12, 2011
Antara & Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Arab movies good. Punk rock bad.
November 28, 2011
Jon Afrizal, Jambi – The Jambi Malay Custom Institute has called on soon-to-be married couples not to engage in intimate picture-taking arguing that it is against Islamic law.
Arya Dipa, Bandung – The West Java provincial branch of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPID) has called on all radio and television stations in the province to refrain from bro
November 23, 2011
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Surabaya – Last year's plan by Surabaya's municipal administration to close down Dolly, one of the most notorious red-light districts in Southeast Asia, has yet to
November 12, 2011
The municipal government of Depok, one of Jakarta's satellite cities, banned advertisement billboards featuring 'sexy' women this month.
November 10, 2011
Jambi – The Jambi provincial administration has decided to ban female students from wearing short skirts that reach above the knee, Governor Hasan Basri Agus said.
September 13, 2011
Nurdin Hassan – An incestuous relationship between a brother and sister in sternly religious Aceh is the newest unconventional relationship to test the limits of the province's Shariah
September 10, 2011
Seven couples, including three Indonesian soldiers, were arrested for illegally being in close proximity to unmarried members of the opposite sex during raids in Banda Aceh, Aceh, early
August 23, 2011
Nurdin Hassan, Banda Aceh – Security authorities in the deeply religious Indonesian province of Aceh have been forced to admit that they are clueless about how to handle a case involvin
August 11, 2011
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Sharia police in Aceh Besar, Aceh province, on Wednesday, arrested three men buying food in a restaurant during the fasting day.
May 27, 2011
Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Eighteen men and one woman were caned in the eastern Aceh town of Langsa on Thursday, less than a week after Amnesty International called for an end to the pr
An Indonesian human rights group on Friday condemned the use of caning in staunchly Islamic Aceh province, saying the punishment violated the country's constitution.