THE JAKARTA POST: The Aceh provincial government will not sign the controversial Islamic bylaw allowing adulterers to be stoned to death, an official said.
Hamid Zein, the head of the legal bureau of the Aceh governor’s office, said Thursday that the administration has firmly rejected the bylaw passed by the legislative council on Monday.
“As long as the executive and legislative bodies do not settle differences in the application of [capital punishment by] stoning, the Aceh government will not sign the bylaw,” Hamid said.
In the deliberation he said government representatives had repeatedly stated objections to the inclusion of the stoning penalty for adulterers in the Islamic criminal code (jinayat). Aceh is the country’s only province with special provisions allowing it to have Islamic sharia-based laws.
However, following initial endorsement of the bylaw, Home Minister Mardiyanto said the government would file a review to the Supreme Court, saying it was “detrimental” to Acehnese and would “frighten” visitors and investors, as well as possibly not respecting the [national] constitution.
His statement signaled the first time the central government had intervened in the issuance of rules and legislation by the Aceh administration and council.
The National Commission on Violence against Women has gone further, calling for a judicial review of the 2006 law on Aceh’s governance that provided its authority to issue sharia-based laws, saying that the bylaw was contrary to human rights.
Governor Irwandi Yusuf on Thursday declined to comment. >>> Hotli Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post , Bandah Aceh | Friday, September 18, 2009
