The Case Of Mesum Ministry Of Religion Officials In Boarding Houses Stopped, Legislators From Aceh Are Furious: Enforcement Of Islamic Law Cannot Be Played

JAKARTA - A member of the DPD RI from Aceh Sudirman (Haji Uma) asked for the case of alleged lewd acts of the Aceh Ministry of Religion officials who had been stopped to be resumed.

"I ask law enforcement to continue the legal process to completion against the Aceh Ministry of Religion officials who are suspected of committing lewd acts," Haji Uma said in his statement in Banda Aceh as reported by Antara, Wednesday, November 10.

Previously, the alleged lewd case of an official of the Aceh Region Ministry of Religion with the initials TJ was terminated by the Satpol PP and WH of the city of Banda Aceh on November 4, 2021 due to insufficient evidence.

In fact, the Ministry of Religion official with sufficient evidence in the initial investigation was detained for 20 days by the Satpol PP and WH of Banda Aceh City. The termination of the legal process against TJ caused a public reaction and went viral on social media.

Responding to this problem, Haji Uma stated that only the court has the right to stop the ongoing legal process, especially since the official was detained for 20 days after Satpol PP and WH had sufficient evidence to determine the suspect.

"It doesn't make sense if the Satpol PP and WH of Banda Aceh City argue that there is not enough evidence, while the suspect was detained. It is not permissible to detain people arbitrarily if they do not meet the elements. Later law enforcement can be prosecuted again," he said.

Regarding this case, Haji Uma will write to the Minister of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia to provide guidance and remove his subordinates who are suspected of violating Islamic law in Aceh.

"The enforcement of Islamic law in Aceh should not be played with, people will no longer believe in the implementation of the law and it will seem that it only applies to the lower class," said Haji Uma.

To note, the case began when an Acehnese Ministry of Religion official with the initials TJ was raided by a resident of Lueng Bata, Banda Aceh City, with his partner RH at RH's boarding house at the end of June 2021. At that time, residents secured RH from inside the house, while TJ fled.

After RH was handed over to the apparatus, Satpol PP and WH wrote to TJ to meet with investigators for questioning.

From TJ's statement at that time, the officers concluded that the evidence obtained was sufficient to ensnare both of them with the Qanun Jinayat so that TJ was detained for 20 days.

The case files have been handed over to the Banda Aceh City Satpol PP and WH to the Prosecutor's Office, but the prosecutors returned the files to be completed by the Banda Aceh City Satpol PP and WH investigators.

After 14 days, the Banda Aceh City Satpol PP and WH did not complete the file, arguing that the witnesses' statements were not strong enough to ensnare TJ, so that on November 4, 2021, Satpol PP and WH stopped the case.