Brunei is to begin imposing death by stoning as a punishment for gay sex and adultery from next week, as part of the country’s highly criticised implementation of sharia law.
From 3 April, people in the tiny south-east Asian kingdom will be subjected to a draconian new penal code, which also includes the amputation of a hand and a foot for the crime of theft. To be convicted, the crimes must be “witnessed by a group of Muslims”.
Brunei, which has adopted a more conservative form of Islam in recent years, first announced in 2013 its intention to introduce sharia law, the Islamic legal system that imposes strict corporal punishments.
It was a directive of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, who is one of the world’s richest leaders and has held the throne since 1967. He described the implementation of the new penal code as “a great achievement”.
Brunei was a British colony until 1984 and the two countries still enjoy strong ties. Homosexuality has been illegal in Brunei since British colonial rule but under the new laws it is now punishable by whipping or death by stoning rather than a prison sentence. Capital punishment will also apply to adultery and rape.
In 2014, Brunei’s promises to implement sharia law prompted protests in Los Angeles, outside the famed Beverley Hills hotel and Hotel Bel Air, both of which were owned by the oil-rich nation. The hotels were accused of the “height of hypocrisy” for offering packages to LGBT couples, while being bankrolled by a country that has condemned homosexuals to death.
Now, the announcement that sharia law is to be rolled out from next week, specifically targeting the gay community, is met with horror by LGBT people and allies.
Stop this atrocity!!!
In 2014, there was a big protest in LA against
sharia law implementation in Brunei
We need to thank George Clooney today for bringing up the question on why the boycott of the Sultan of Brunei's 9 prestigious hotels including the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel that you mention, but also including The Hotel Bel-Air (also on the exclusive west side of Los Angeles), The Dorchester in London, 45 Park Lane in London, Hotel Eden in Rome, Le Meurice in Paris, the Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris, the Principe di Savoia in Milan, and the Coworth Park outside of London (where Prince Harry and William once played a Polo Match in 2014 to great public disapproval) are not losing awareness in the public's eye as boycott targets. It seems that some nations think they can get away with anything when it come to killing LGBTI people in public in huge numbers - including hanging up from construction cranes in Iran -- or stoning us in pits in Bahrain -- before popular progressive awareness really gives a good damn. Thanks for George Clooney for bringing this up today.
ReplyDeleteBy Pierrick's Theme: Why would anyone want to live in such a miserable place like that? How Backward and pathetic!
ReplyDeleteBy Lewis Capps-Flutsch: I can't believe that in this day and age this kind of ignorance exists
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