question about verse 24/2

[HopeSeeker]

24:2   
YUSUF ALI
"The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication,- flog each of them with a hundred stripes: Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment."

 Is this punishment only for Muslims or for non believers too?

[Hassan3000]

May peace be upon you

As we note from the next ayaa.
"The fornicator does not marry except a [female] fornicator or polytheist, and none marries her except a fornicator or a polytheist, and that has been made unlawful to the believers." (Quran 24:3) SAHIH INTERNATIONAL

So here the fornicator is allowed to marry a polytheist, which is forbidden to a muslim.
"And do not marry polytheistic women until they believe..." (Quran 2:221) SAHIH INTERNATIONAL

As my understanding, this aims to the non-muslims under the leadership of a muslim leader (so they have to follow its rules), this also raises another point. The fornicator is forbidden to marry the believers (Quran 24:3), so they are not even identified as believers here by God! This makes the sin of fornicating extremely great as God doesn't even consider them believers. At the end God is forgiving and merciful.
"Except for those who repent thereafter and reform, for indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." (Quran 24:5)

Hope this answers the question and also an insight. This is what I am convinced of and if I made any mistakes, please let me know.
Thank you.

[deleted]

Also remember you need 4 witnesses.