Sharia Law in Aceh-- Mova

The Jakarta Post brought up an interesting article:

Sharia-style local government bylaws in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam are bringing unnecessary hardship to the Acehnese and discriminating against women, people from the province say. "Four qanun (bylaws) have been produced that put harsh sanctions on minor crimes committed by needy and vulnerable groups, while many kinds of major crimes committed by 'the haves' and public officials have been ignored by the sharia affairs office," Yuswardi told The Jakarta Post. Discriminatory bylaws are those on maisir (gambling), khalwat (adultery), khamar (the consumption of alcoholic beverages) and on personal dress, he said.

The people there are complaining as the Qanun's are unable to nail big cases such corruption. I am not surprised to see this reaction as the Law on Aceh Governance has not delegated much power to the Qanuns. It only says that every moslem in Aceh must obey sharia, without further elaborating the extent of sharia that should be obeyed. Thus, grave cases such as corruption, murder and and theft for example will still be dealt with national legislations. I have explained this problem at my newspaper article around a year ago. Not many has changed ever since:

The special autonomy law is silent about the maximum penalties for crimes in the Qanun. However, Article 225 in Law No. 32 2004 on regional government, which also applies to Aceh, stipulates the maximum sentences for all crimes in the Qanun -- six months imprisonment and a maximum fine of up to IDR 50 million. Viewing the Qanun through the regional government law, it is no different from the ordinary Peraturan Daerah or Regional Regulations, except for its Arabic and Islamic-oriented terminology.

If the Acehnese want an effective and far-reaching special autonomy like Hong Kong has, then Article 18 of the 1945 Constitution must be amended, so as to permit the enforcement of different, autonomous legal systems in Indonesia. In addition to that, the House of Representatives needs to pass a bill regulating and defining the limits of Aceh's sharia law. As long as the status quo exists, the harshest penalties under jinayat (Islamic criminal law) in Aceh should be limited to a maximum of Rp 50 million and six months imprisonment. Penalties which exceed or are different to these are likely to be illegal.

Should none of these measures are concluded, implimentation of sharia law in Aceh will forever be only of "petty cases", nothing but a lip service to calm down the people.