Two Christian men were whipped by consumes alcohol and bets for money on Monday in Aceh, the only province in Indonesia that applies sharia, Islamic law.
The two Christians received 40 blows in the Aceh Band on Monday, the capital of this province that practices conservative Islam in Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world.
One of them, identified by his initials JF, told AFP that he chose this punishment instead of civil proceedings that could have left him in prison for up to six months.
“Sharia police offered us two options and we consciously chose to obey Islamic law. No one forced us,” he told AFP.
Flagellation is a punishment rarely applied to non-Muslims in the northern province of Sumatra, where two men received about 80 rattan blows each week in Aceh for having sex.
A total of seven people were whipped in the Aceh Band on Monday. The other five were Muslims punished for adultery or drinking.
Human rights groups denounce the punishments, which they compare to torture, while Indonesian President Joko Widodo has called for an end to them.