The head of the Sharia and Human Rights Division at Aceh’s Sharia Agency, Syukri Yusuf, denies having said that the province was going to implement beheading as a punishment for murder.

In a statement made available Friday, Syukri clarified the matter related to qisas, or retributive law.

“I have never said that Aceh will implement beheading. What I spoke about was the plan to do a study first, to see whether the people of Aceh would agree with implementing qisas,” he said.

Read also: Aceh cannot introduce beheading as punishment under bylaw, official says

Syukri said he had talked about qisas in his personal capacity as a scholar, rather than as a representative of the Aceh administration. The news about beheading, “which was construed as if I had said Aceh would implement beheading”, was detrimental to him and the Aceh government, he went on.

The news had spread across the world and was picked up by large media outlets. Syukri was the only source of the news.

“So far, research on qisas has not been included in the programs of the Aceh administration,” Syukri added. (evi)