Move FM Global News

LOS ANGELES, Hollywood – Actor George Clooney has come out swinging against the sultanate of Brunei Darussalami (more commonly known as Brunei), deploring a new law in that country which next week will make adultery, gay sex, and blasphemy punishable by death.

From next Wednesday, 3 April 2019, the full sharia penal code (law) will come into effect in Brunei. The law was announced in 2013 and introduced in 2014, but with a starting date 5 years hence because of the controvsery that arose at the time.

The law will also provide for whipping and stoning, including stoning to death. It will also mean convicted thieves can have hands and/or feet amputated.

“The date April 3rd has held a unique place in our history over the years. Theologians and astronomers will tell you that Christ was crucified on that date,” Clooney wrote in an article published this week by Deadline Hollywood.

“But this April 3rd will hold its own place in history. On this particular April 3rd the nation of Brunei will begin stoning and whipping to death any of its citizens that are proved to be gay. Let that sink in. In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism this stands alone.”

The new law to take effect on Wednesday applies to Muslims, non-Muslim and foreigners even when flying on Brunei registered aircraft and vessels. Anyone flying on the Brunei national carrier Brunei Air will be subject to the new law.

Offences that attract the death penalty include blasphemy, sodomy, adultery, some drug offences, rape and murder. Brunei already has the death penalty in place for major offences but has in the past been reluctant to carry out executions.

Following is a list of activities that are or will become illegal in Brunei as of next Wednesday, that are permissable in other countries:

– eating, drinking or smoking in public places between sunrise and sunset, during Ramadan

– homosexual activity

– persuading or inciting a Muslim to neglect their religious duties

– preaching religions other than Islam

– failing to attend Friday prayers, if you are an adult male Muslim

– teaching Islamic doctrine outside your own home or to anyone outside your household, without permission

– selling alcohol

– importing alcohol above certain limits

– possession of pornographic material

– gambling

– smoking in government buildings, hospitals, recreational and educational centres, public transport, restaurants or other specified public places

– photographing government or military infrastructure or equipment, places used by security forces, communications or civil infrastructure, any other prohibited places or areas in the vicinity of such places

– carrying firearms or related items, such as ammunition, including empty cartridge shells.

“Brunei isn’t a significant country. Its population is less than 500,000 people, pretty small in relation to most of its neighbors, The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia. But Brunei has oil. This year it was ranked as the 5th richest nation by Forbes. Good for them. Of course they haven’t had an election since 1962 and have adopted the most extreme version of sharia law so, not so good for them. At the head of it all is the Sultan of Brunei who is one of the richest men in the world. He owns the Brunei Investment Agency and they in turn own some pretty spectacular hotels,” said Clooney.

The hotels Clooney was referring to are The Dorchester in London; 45 Park Lane in London; the Coworth Park in the UK; The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Califrornia; Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles; Le Meurice in Paris; Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris; Hotel Eden in Rome; and the Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan, Italy.

“A couple of years ago two of those hotels in Los Angeles, The Bel-Air and The Beverly Hills Hotel were boycotted by many of us for Brunei’s treatment of the gay community. It was effective to a point. We cancelled a big fundraiser for the Motion Picture Retirement Home that we’d hosted at the Beverly Hills Hotel for years. Lots of individuals and companies did the same. But like all good intentions when the white heat of outrage moves on to the hundred other reasons to be outraged, the focus dies down and slowly these hotels get back to the business of business. And the Brunei Investment Agency counts on that. They own nine of the most exclusive hotels in the world. Full disclosure: I’ve stayed at many of them, a couple of them recently, because I hadn’t done my homework and didn’t know who owned them,” wrote Clooney.

“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? I’ve learned over years of dealing with murderous regimes that you can’t shame them. But you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way.”