Nine sentenced to caning for selling food during the day in Aceh

Public Caning under Shariah Law in Aceh. Photo: AFP/Chaideer Mahyudding

In Jakarta and most of Indonesia, restaurants and street food vendors are legally allowed to stay open during the day during Ramadan, as recently reiterated by Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin in a tweet that led to a conservative backlash. 

But in Indonesia’s Aceh province, that legal protection is overridden by religion. Under Aceh’s brand of sharia law, it is illegal for people to sell food during the day, even non-Muslims selling to other non-Muslims.

And that law is strictly enforced, as nine street food vendors from Banda Aceh recently found out when they were sentenced to be flogged in public for the blasphemous crime of selling food during the day.

The nine people, consisting of one stall owner and his eight employees, were caught selling food in Banda Aceh’s Peunayong market by the city’s Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP). As evidence, the police seize boxes of rice, beverages and other foods.

“They were arrested for facilitating the selling of food for people who do not fast during Ramadan. This is contrary to the rules applied in Aceh,” said the head of the municipal police in Aceh province, Bukari, as quoted by Sinar Harapan.

Of the nine people arrested, six are Muslims, while the other three are non-Muslims. They were each sentenced to receive six lashes in public.

Bukhari said the sharia police had been monitoring the vendor for some time and had purchased rice from the stall as proof of the crime. 

One Banda Aceh resident, Yusriadi, said the rules about food stalls being closed during Ramadan has been in effect since before the existence of sharia law in the region. 

“Although the Minister of Religious Affairs allow stalls open in the month of fasting, the people of Aceh still do not want it. It is our custom in Aceh, and it should not be tampered with by anyone,” he said.

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