This recapitulation is written based on the indictments and verdicts of cases of khalwat in Sabang, Nangroe Aceh Darussalam between January to February 2017. All information was gathered directly from the official Mahkamah Syar’iyah (sharīʿa court)’s website http://www.ms-aceh.go.id
All seventeen cases were filed on the same day by the same public prosecutor. Even though the indictments of these cases do not specify the details of the events leading to the arrest of the defendants it is likely that these cases refer to the raid of twenty-three young people in Sabang in January 2017. The raid happened after the surrounding neighborhood of the hotels where twenty-three young people stayed the night to celebrate the end of school semester reported them to the Shari’a police. They were apprehended in five different hotels.[1] Out of these twenty-three people, only seventeen of them were formally charged with khalwat and brought to the Mahkamah Syar’iyah (Shari’a court) in Sabang.
[1] Irwan Saputra, "Libur Semester, 11 Pasang Muda-mudi Digaruk WH di Sejumlah Hotel di Sabang - Aceh - BERITAKINI - Media Online," BERITAKINI.CO, December 27, 2016, accessed October 02, 2017, http://www.beritakini.co/news/libur-semester-11-pasang-muda-mudi-digaruk-wh-di-sejumlah-hotel-di-sabang/index.html