The moratorium on the death penalty has been extended to include the incoming legislation on gay sex, says Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah on Sunday (5 May). This is the first time the Sultan has publicly commented on the issue which has drawn backlash from around the world.
The small nation sparked outrage when it finally rolled out its interpretation of Syariah, or Islamic law, in April which punishes sodomy, adultery and rape with death via medieval methods such as stoning. These law have been rolled out in phases starting 2014 and Brunei has been consistently defending its implementation of these laws since.
Other crimes which already do incur the death penalty under Bruneian laws include premeditated murder and drug trafficking, however no executions have been carried out since the 1990s.
Following strong global outcry, the sultan said that the death penalty would not be imposed on the implementation of the Syariah Penal Code Order (SPCO).
In his speech just before the start of Ramadan, the sultan said “I am aware that there are many questions and misperceptions with regard to the implementation of the SPCO. However, we believe that once these have been cleared, the merit of the law will be evident. As evident for more than two decades, we have practiced a de facto moratorium on the execution of death penalty for cases under the common law. This will also be applied to cases under the SPCO which provides a wider scope for remission.”
The fact that the sultan came out with a statement on the matter is unusual given that he usually doesn’t comment or respond to any sort of criticism, of which there are many including that his absolute monarchy is despotic.
Another thing that’s unusual about this whole thing is that the sultan’s office released an official English translation of his speech – again, not a common practice.
“Both the common law and the Syariah law aim to ensure peace and harmony of the country,” he said. Adding, “They are also crucial in protecting the morality and decency of the country as well as the privacy of individuals.”
The implementation of the SPCA was condemned by the United Nations and prompted many prominent celebrities from George Clooney to Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres as well as rights groups to seek a boycott of hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei including the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles and the Dorchester in London. Several travel companies have stopped promoting Brunei as a tourist destination while some multinational countries have also banned their staff from using the Sultan’s hotels.
