Brunei Begins New Law of Stoning to Death for Gay Sex

For all who wondered what the future would look like, this is where the world is in 2019.

As of April 3, 2019, gay sex and adultery will be punishable by stoning to death in the Islamic country of Brunei. This new penal code also includes other infractions.

• Lesbian sex will be punishable by 40 strokes of a cane and/or a maximum of 10 years in jail.
• Theft will result in amputation.
• Those who “persuade, tell or encourage” Muslim children under the age of 18 “to accept the teachings of religions other than Islam” are liable to a fine or jail

Homosexuality was already illegal, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, but Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has put into place the country’s new Sharia law-based penal code that will mean death contrary to much opposition from human rights chiefs. The law was first introduced in 2014, but has delayed until now.

According to BBC, Bolkiah shared he wishes for ‘stronger’ Islamic teachings and that it is the country’s right as a “sovereign Islamic and fully independent country’ to enforce whatever laws they wish.

A statement reads:

Brunei Darussalam is a sovereign Islamic and fully independent country and, like all other independent countries, enforces its own rule of laws. Brunei Darussalam has always been practising a dual legal system, one that is based on the Syariah Law and the other on Common Law.

In fully implementing the Syariah Penal Code Order (SPCO) 2013 from 3rd April 2019, both systems will continue to run in parallel to maintain peace and order and preserve religion, life, family and individuals regardless of gender, nationality, race and faith.

The Syariah Law, apart from criminalizing and deterring acts that are against the teachings of Islam, it also aims to educate, respect and protect the legitimate rights of all individuals, society or nationality of any faiths and race.

Many public figures have been speaking out against this heinous law. They’ve been calling for a boycott on the hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei in hopes calling attention to the severity of this new law.

Tomorrow, the country of #Brunei will start stoning gay people to death. We need to do something now. Please boycott these hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei. Raise your voices now. Spread the word. Rise up. pic.twitter.com/24KJsemPGH

— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) April 2, 2019

In a write-up for Deadline, George Clooney shared:

They’re nice hotels. The people who work there are kind and helpful and have no part in the ownership of these properties. But let’s be clear, every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery. Brunei is a Monarchy and certainly any boycott would have little effect on changing these laws. But are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations? Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens?

H/T: BBC, Brunei Government, Deadline