The couple were caught in 2018 at a palm-oil plantation and brought before Aceh's Islamic court
The man is married and heads the East Aceh fishing agency
citing the head of the general investigation division at the East Aceh prosecutors' office
The judges couldn't find the accused man guilty of adultery because he denied the charges
so he was instead accused of "showing affection to a female partner who is not his wife." They sentenced him to be flogged 30 times
and the Sharia Supreme Court reduced his punishment to 15 lashes in an appeal
An AFP reporter at the scene Thursday said the woman's flogging was paused because she couldn't bear the pain
Aceh is the only province in Indonesia that enforces Islamic law as part of an agreement that gives the region special autonomy from the rest of the nation
It permits flogging as a punishment for offenses of drinking alcohol
A strong magnitude 5.8 earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean near the coast of <a href="earthquakes/indonesia/aceh.html">Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Province</a>, &nbsp;<a href="earthquakes/indonesia.html">Indonesia</a>
2025 at 6.03 pm local time (Asia/Pontianak GMT +7)
The quake had a shallow depth of 69&nbsp;km (43&nbsp;mi) and was felt by many near the epicenter
The shallow depth of the quake caused it to be felt more strongly near the epicenter than a deeper quake of similar magnitude would.