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A convicted sex offender was given 74 lashes in a public whipping in Indonesia today – wearing a face shield emblazoned with the name of a local travel firm.
The caning was handed out under Sharia law in the arch-conservative province of Aceh, which has continued to carry out its notorious public floggings despite the coronavirus crisis.
The victim was allowed to wear a visor which bore the name of BookCabin.com, a website which describes itself as a new Indonesia-based travel company hoping to expand into foreign markets.
It was not clear whether BookCabin had sought such prominent advertising or whether it had any connection to the suspect, whose name was given only as MZF.
A 100-stroke punishment is reserved for the most severe crimes and offenders may also be sentenced to prison time.
Rights groups have slammed public caning as cruel, and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has called for it to end, but the practice has wide support among Aceh’s population.
