Brunei set to enforce strict Islamic sharia law

oIL-RICh Brunei will enforce sharia criminal law next year, the Islamic kingdom’s sultan has announced, with possible punishments including stoning to death for adultery and flogging for drinking alcohol.

The law would be enforced from April, said hassanal Bolkiah, 67, who is one of the world’s wealthiest people, and who has presided over a shift to conservative Islam and anti-sedition laws in recent years.

Power is concentrated with the monarchy and the country does not hold elections.

“It is because of our need that Allah the Almighty, in all his generosity, has created laws for us, so that we can utilise them to obtain justice,” said the sultan, who also holds the post of prime minister.

Many crimes under the code have a high burden of proof and sharia court judges would have discretion over punishments, which could also include amputations for theft.

The tiny kingdom, which has South-east Asia’s highest percapita income after Singapore, has been preparing to introduce the sharia penal code for years.

Brunei, which neighbours two Malaysian states on Borneo island and has a population of just over 400,000, already enforces Islamic teachings more sternly than Malaysia and Indonesia, the other majority Muslim countries in the region. The sale of alcohol is banned and evangelism by other religions is strictly forbidden.