[Kabar-indonesia] Italian Detained by Aceh Religious Police for Relationship with Muslim Woman

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: Italian aid worker facing 10 years prison for drugs in Aceh 
[after being arrested with a small amount of marijuana]

Indonesia: Italian Detained by Aceh Religious Police

Banda Aceh, 2 August (AKI) - An Italian in the Indonesian province of Aceh 
has 
been detained by the wilayatul hisbah or religious police for having a 
relationship 
with a local Muslim woman - something which is strictly forbidden under 
Sharia 
or Islamic law. Aceh is the only province in Indonesia where Sharia law is 
applied. 

Giuseppe Busalacchi, 31, has been in Aceh for a year working for the 
non-governmental organisation, Terre Des Hommes, in a project to reconstruct the 
province which was devastated by the December 2004 tsunami. 

Busalacchi was not reachable but sources close to him told Adnkronos 
International (AKI) that "he is very worried mainly for the girl." 

According to sources, Busalacchi was stopped by the local religious police in 
the city on the eastern coast of Bireuen on 23 July. Giuseppe was in the 
company of a Muslim women with whom he had a relationship for some months. 

"It was not a question of a few days, the two of them were together for some 
time," said the source who prefered to remain anonymous.

Some sources suggest that Busalacchi was found with loose tobacco which could 
have been mistaken for marijuana and this misunderstanding could be the main 
problem behind his arrest. 

Jodi Heriyadi, the head of the police in central Banda Aceh, the capital of 
the province, confirmed to the Indonesian state news agency ANTARA that 
Busalacchi had been detained. 

The Italian embassy in Jakarta however said that it had not received any 
information about the arrest from the police and that the situation is probably 
not serious and will be resolved. 

"Most probably it is only a misunderstanding that will be resolved quickly," 
said an Italian embassy official in an interview with AKI. 

In Indonesia, the police are required to inform the embassies in the event 
that a foreigner is arrested. 

Aceh is the only Indonesian province that has a right to apply Sharia law 
beyond the confines of marriage, divorce and inheiritance matters.

The acts that have been criminalised under Islamic laws and judged in an 
Islamic court are gambling, the consumption of alcohol and sexual relations 
between men and women outside marriage. Among the punishments for such crimes are 
public beatings. 

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Italian aid worker facing drugs charges in Aceh 

BANDA ACEH, Aceh province, Aug. 2 (AP): An Italian aid worker in 
tsunami-ravaged Aceh province could face 10 years in prison after being arrested with a 
small amount of marijuana, police said Wednesday.

The suspect was arrested late last month in Bireuen district and is being 
detained in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, said Aceh drug squad head Ali 
Jauhari.

Jauhari declined to say what aid group the suspect worked for. He faces a 
maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment if found guilty, Jauhari told reporters.

Indonesia often imposes strict sentences on foreigners convicted for drugs 
offenses, though long prison terms for possession of small amounts of marijuana 
are rare.

Two Australians were sentenced to death in February for trying to smuggle 8 
kilograms (18 pounds) of heroin from Bali island to their homeland.

Aceh is home to hundreds of foreign nationals helping in the reconstruction 
of the province, which was worst hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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