BANDA ACHAE: Muslims who commit adultery can be stoned to death under a new sharia law approved today by lawmakers in Indonesia’s staunchly Islamic province of Aceh.

The law, which also allows punishments of up to 100 lashes for offenses including rape, the consumption of alcohol, homosexuality and gambling, was passed unanimously in the province on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

“All parties agreed unanimously to pass the bill into a law, including the article stipulating the punishment of death by stoning,” said parliamentary special hearing chairman Bachron M Rasyid. “This law will be effective in 30 days with or without the approval of Aceh’s governor,” he said. The law replaces elements of the civil code with sharia or Islamic law. It stipulates punishments of up to 100 lashes of the cane for an unmarried person who commits adultery and death by stoning for a married person.

“This law is a preventive measure for Acehnese people so that they will avoid moral degradation,” said Moharriyadia, a spokesman for the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party The administration of Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf, a former rebel fighter of the separatist Free Aceh Movement, is opposed to the strict sharia law. It had urged a delay in the bill’s deliberation. “Indonesia is created from a plurality of cultures and local wisdom. If Aceh applies sharia law as criminal law, it’s dangerous for us, for Indonesia,” said liberal Muslim intellectual Mohamad Guntur Romli.

“Shariah law in Aceh is part of them not splitting off from Indonesia and it is the people there that are suffering from this,” he added. Aceh had previously adopted sharia law only partially, enforcing modest Muslim dress codes, mandatory prayers five times a day, fasting and the giving of alms to the poor.