Two Indonesian men have been sentenced by an Islamic court to 85 lashes of the cane for having gay sex, judges in the conservative province of Aceh said on Wednesday, ignoring pleas for clemency from rights groups.
The public caning handed down by a panel of judges is the first time anti-homosexuality laws introduced in 2014 have been used in the province.
The sentence was more severe than the 80 lashes requested by the prosecutor.
The two men had opted to represent themselves in court and said they would not appeal the verdict.
Many on social media however, are asking that the sentence be revoked.
Aceh is the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia that criminalizes same-sex relations and that uses sharia as its legal code in addition to the national criminal code.
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