Brunei introducing a raft of tough sharia punishments

Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah delivers his speech during the official opening of the Majlis Ilmu 2013 in Bandar Seri Begawan on October 22, 2013

Coat of arms of Brunei. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah announced on Tuesday the phased introduction of tough Islamic punishments including death by stoning for crimes such as adultery, in the monarchy’s latest step towards conservatism.

The 67 years old looks forward to a new Sharia Penal Code which has been in the works for years to “come into force six months hereafter and in phases”. As an all-powerful figure whose family has ruled the languid, oil-rich
country of 400,000 for six centuries, the sultan first called in 1996
for the introduction of sharia criminal punishments. In this action we see the continuing of the the sultan has steps towards Islamic orthodoxy which had already the mandatory religious education for all Muslim children and all businesses in the country to be closed for two hours during Friday prayers.

Now the sultan believes:

“By the grace of Allah, with the coming into effect of this legislation, our duty to Allah is therefore being fulfilled.”

Brunei already has a dual-track system combining civil courts based on British law — the sultanate was a British protectorate until 1984 — and Shariah courts that are currently limited to personal and family issues such as marriage disputes.

Two years ago, a top official in the Attorney-General’s office said Brunei would apply an extremely high burden of proof for shariah criminal infractions under the code, and that judges would have wide discretion in applying the Islamic punishments.

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