Dateline gains access to sharia law policing in Aceh

For the first time ever, Dateline has gained camera access to strict policing of Islamic sharia law in Aceh, the only part of Indonesia that enforces this.

Captain Latif, who enforces these controversial laws in the city of Langsa, allowed the SBS show to follow him and his police team around on their daily duties.

Dateline video journalist, Patrick Abboud gains unprecedented access to follow Captain Latif’s street raids, where women are pulled over at a checkpoint and interrogated about their clothing.

Women who breach the Islamic dress code are given three documented warnings before they are subjected to a public caning.

A police woman from Aceh told Patrick, “Women who wear tight clothes are inviting bad things to happen to them, such as rape. Actually, crime happens because we invite it.”

Patrick also sat down in a one-on-one interview with the captain as he spoke openly about proposed punishment in Aceh.

Captain Latif told Patrick, “The usual punishment for adultery or sex between a man and a woman who are both married is that they are buried in the ground on the road. The man is buried up to his waist at a cross roads and whoever passes by has to throw a stone at him until he dies. A married woman would be buried to the neck and be stoned until she dies.”

Tuesday, 28 October at 9.30pm on SBS ONE.