Under 'vicious' new laws, gay sex, adultery punishable by death in Brunei

The Sultan of Brunei.
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Starting on April 3, anyone found guilty of committing adultery or engaging in gay sex in Brunei will be stoned to death, and individuals convicted of theft will have their hands amputated.

The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, announced the kingdom's new penal code in May 2014, and its laws have been slowly introduced ever since. Brunei, a small country in southeast Asia, became the first in the region to adopt Sharia law, a strict Islamic legal system. The executions will be "witnessed by a group of Muslims," the government announced.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.