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| Southeast Asia |
| Aceh's Sharia court opens |
| 2003-03-05 |
| The Indonesian province of Aceh has inaugurated its first Sharia court. The governor of the province, Abdullah Puteh, said the court would implement Islamic law "in a moderate way and gradually". That means they're only going to cut people's heads halfway off... He said the province did not want to infringe human rights or gender issues with the arrival of Sharia, which I think the answer to the question is that it'll go as far as they can push it... Aceh was granted permission to implement partial Sharia law two years ago, as part of an autonomy deal offered by the central government in Jakarta. The autonomy package formed the basis of a ceasefire signed in December between the government and the pro-independence rebel group GAM (Free Aceh Movement), aimed at bringing an end to almost three decades of civil conflict. Last year they weren't fighting for Islam, they were fighting for independence. At least when the fighting starts up again we know which side to hold our noses and root for... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 Sharia lite? Sounds like digging half a hole to me. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2003-03-05 13:19:16 |