Evidence of the Crime of Adultery in the Implementation of the Qanun Jinayat in Aceh, Indonesia

El-Usrah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga https://jurnal.ar-raniry.ac.id/index.php/usrah/index ISSN: 2620 – 8075 ║ E-ISSN: 2620 – 8083 Vol. 8. No. 2. December 2025 DOI: 10.22373/ujhk.v8i2.27087 Proof of Adultery Crime in the Implementation of Qanun Jinayat in Aceh Faradilla Fadlia1, Annisah Putri1, Siti Ikramatoun1, Ismar Ramadani2 Universitas Syiah Kuala Banda Aceh, Indonesia Universitas Al-Muslim, Indonesia Email: Abstract This study aims to analyze the implementation of the Qanun Jinayat, or Islamic criminal law, in Aceh, Indonesia, which utilizes 'raids' as one of the instruments for implementing the Qanun Jinayat. From the raid process, the perpetrator was interrogated by residents and asked to make a confession and take an oath that he had committed adultery. This confession is then used as the only evidence for a judge's consideration in making a hudud decision. This study examines two key aspects: first, how the raid violated a person's right to privacy, as this is not regulated in the Qanun Jinayat. Second, the evidence for confessions by the perpetrators obtained through the interrogation process as a result of raids by residents is a confession given out of necessity, not the suspect's conscious confession. This paper uses a qualitative method by utilising in-depth interviews conducted in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. This paper concludes that the presence of raids has simplified the evidence for the crime of adultery in the Qanun Jinayat. In Article 182 Number 5 Qanun Aceh Number 7 of 2013 concerning the Jinayat Procedure Law, it is stated that"especially in the case of adultery, it is proven by 4 (four) witnesses who directly saw the process which shows that adultery has occurred at the time, place, and person who are the same." However, what happened in Aceh, of the 135 convictions for adultery crimes from 2016 to 2020, all were based on the suspect's confession, not witness evidence, and DNA. Keywords: Qanun Jinayat, Zina’s Crime, Evidence, Confessions, Raids 912 Faradilla Fadlia, at. al , Proof of Adultery Crime 913 Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis implementasi Qanun Jinayat atau hukum pidana Islam di Aceh, Indonesia, yang menggunakan “razia” sebagai salah satu instrumen dalam penerapan Qanun Jinayat. Dalam proses razia, pelaku diinterogasi oleh warga dan diminta untuk membuat pengakuan serta mengucapkan sumpah bahwa ia telah melakukan perbuatan zina. Pengakuan ini kemudian digunakan sebagai satu-satunya alat bukti bagi hakim dalam mempertimbangkan putusan hudud. Penelitian ini mengkaji dua hal. Pertama, bagaimana praktik razia melanggar hak privasi seseorang karena tidak diatur secara eksplisit dalam Qanun Jinayat. Kedua, bagaimana alat bukti berupa pengakuan pelaku yang diperoleh melalui proses interogasi akibat razia oleh warga merupakan pengakuan yang diberikan karena keterpaksaan, bukan pengakuan yang lahir dari kesadaran penuh tersangka. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan memanfaatkan wawancara mendalam yang dilakukan di Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Artikel ini menyimpulkan bahwa keberadaan praktik razia telah menyederhanakan pembuktian tindak pidana zina dalam penerapan Qanun Jinayat. Pasal 182 ayat (5) Qanun Aceh Nomor 7 Tahun 2013 tentang Hukum Acara Jinayat disebutkan bahwa khusus dalam perkara zina, pembuktiannya dilakukan dengan 4 (empat) orang saksi yang secara langsung melihat perbuatan zina tersebut pada waktu, tempat, dan orang yang sama. Namun, fakta yang terjadi di Aceh menunjukkan bahwa dari 135 putusan perkara zina pada periode 2016–2020, seluruhnya didasarkan pada pengakuan tersangka, bukan pada keterangan saksi maupun bukti DNA. Kata Kunci: Qanun Jinayat, Tindak Pidana Zina, Pembuktian, Pengakuan, Razia Introduction This research aims to analyze how the judiciary passes judgment on cases of adultery by considering two key pieces of evidence: witness testimony and confessions. Where confessions are usually obtained through interrogation by residents and investigators during the raid process, while witness evidence is never used in making a decision regarding the crime of adultery. According to the 20162020 Sharia Court report, there were 135 decisions for the offences of adultery in 23 Regency/City Sharia Courts. Everything is based on the suspect's confession, not testimonial evidence.1 In Islamic law, evidence of confession comes from the perpetrator's awareness of receiving punishment for the crime of adultery, which is carried out as an effort to purify himself based on the knowledge that punishment in this world is lighter than punishment in the afterlife. However, this research finds different things from the implementation of the Qanun Jinayat, that the confessions generally given by the perpetrator and used by the judge as a consideration for the decision were obtained from the interrogation process, where residents carried out 1 Ali Abubakar, “Confession of Zina Offense in Aceh: Legal Awareness or Compulsion?,” Media Syariah: Wahana Kajian Hukum Islam Dan Pranata Sosial, 2022. https://jurnal.ar-raniry.ac.id/index.php/usrah/index Vol. 8 No. 2, December 2025 Faradilla Fadlia, at. al , Proof of Adultery Crime 914 raids and then forced the alleged perpetrator to make a confession and make an oath that he had committed an adultery act. In several decisions, the judge relied solely on confession evidence without considering witness testimony or DNA evidence.2 In Aceh, Islamic criminal law is known as Qanun Jinayat. The Qanun Jinayat is an Islamic criminal law that regulates community actions that are prohibited by Sharia. This Qanun regulates jarimah (acts prohibited by Islamic Sharia), perpetrators, and uqubat (the punishment imposed by the judge on the perpetrators of Jarimah). Behaviors prohibited by Sharia and regulated in Qanun Jinayat include khamar (alcohol consumption), maisir (Gambling), Khalwat (certain intimacy outside of marriage in private areas), Ikhtilat (mixing between women and men), Liwath (Homosexuality), Musahaqah (lesbianism), Qadzaf (false accusation), Zina (obscenity), sexual harassment, and rape. Punishments for these crimes include flogging, fines, and imprisonment.3 Aceh is the only region in Indonesia that applies Islamic Criminal Law. Aceh obtains this privilege because Aceh is a Special Autonomous Region. Aceh, as a Special Region, has the right to regulate its region. Aceh received special privileges after the signing of the MOU for peace between the separatist movement in Aceh (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka/GAM) and the Indonesian government, which was signed on August 15, 2005, in Helsinki, Finland.4 As a follow-up to the peace agreement, the Indonesian government issued Law No. 11 of 2006 concerning the Aceh Government. Implementing Islamic Sharia is also an effort to develop Aceh after peace and the Tsunami, which Fenner calls a form of social engineering.5 One of the authorities given in this law is that Aceh has the right to implement Islamic sharia as a whole, both in terms of worsh (...truncated)