Brunei to stone to death and amputate adulterers and gay men under law
The tiny Asian kingdom will introduce the new punishments next week
By Steve Brown
Brunei is set to introduce stoning to death and amputation for adulterers and gay sex under a law.
In the tiny southeast Asian kingdom – which follows a strict Sharia penal code – homosexuality is already illegal but now it will become a capital offence when the new law is introduced today (April 3).
The law, according to the Telegraph, only applies to Muslims and the public punishments will only be ‘witnessed by a group of Muslims’.
Following the news, Amnesty International called for an ‘immediate halt’ for the punishments.
Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Amnesty’s Brunei researcher, said: “The international community must urgently condemn Brunei’s move to put these cruel penalties into practice.
“To legalise such cruel and inhuman penalties is appalling of itself. Some of the potential ‘offences’ should not even be deemed crimes at all, including consensual sex between adults of the same gender.”
Over the years, Brunei has banned the sale of alcohol and introduced strict penalties for open and excessive Christmas celebrations in the Muslim-majority country.