Shariah Police in Aceh Arrest Dozens in Weekend Raids

Shariah police question a young couple. (Reuters Photo/Damir Sagolj)

Banda Aceh. Authorities in Banda Aceh rounded up dozens of people over the weekend, mostly   women, for allegedly violating the province’s ultraconservative Islamic bylaws on indecent conduct.

The series of raids was carried out late Saturday night and early Sunday by the Wilayatul Hisbah, the so-called Shariah police, with help from regular police and soldiers.

Effendi, a WH official, said two couples were arrested at a hotel in Banda Aceh during one of the raids, and had been taken into custody for violating a bylaw prohibiting khalwat , the practice of unmarried couples being alone together in private.

“The four individuals are still being questioned by our officers,” he told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday afternoon.

“If they refuse to see the error of their ways, we’ll have to charge them under the bylaw, for which they could be punished with a public caning.”

In another raid led by Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal, Banda Aceh deputy mayor, WH officers arrested 15 women from a cafe on the outskirts of the city.

Officials said the women were arrested for wearing tight-fitting clothes and for being out late at night.

No men were arrested in that raid.

A third raid, at a boarding house in a densely populated part of the city, netted one man and three women.

Effendi said the man was believed to be a pimp. He said WH raided the house after receiving complaints from residents about “un-Islamic activities” taking place there, but declined to elaborate.

He added that the three women found at the scene were arrested for wearing tight clothing.

“We’re continuing to question these four people because we have strong reason to believe that the man is a pimp and that the three women are ‘comfort women,’ ” Effendi said.

Three more women were arrested in a further raid on a late-night eatery in the Banda Aceh outskirts for wearing tight-fitting clothes, forbidden under Aceh’s partial adoption of Shariah law.

Effendi said all the women arrested for this violation were released into the custody of their families after promising not to repeat their conduct.

Illiza said the raids were necessary to “keep Banda Aceh clean from the stench of vice.”

“We’re carrying out these raids to crack down on those that are violating Shariah law,” she said.

“We raided several places tonight, mostly hotels and cafes. It’s very sad that we keep finding people doing these things, no matter how often we conduct these raids.

“Most of those we caught tonight were committing khalwat, so we hope we can return them to the right path.”