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3rd April 2019
03:18pm BST

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah[/caption]
Homosexuality was already outlawed in the country and punishable by up to ten years in prison. Brunei's small LGBT community is said to have expressed shock and fear at the new 'medieval ruling'.
The new punishments have been met with widespread condemnation, with the United Nations branding the laws "cruel and inhumane" and the foreign ministries of Germany, France and Australia have also protested the plan and called on Brunei to abolish the new rulings.
Celebrities George Clooney and Ellen Degeneres are also supporting a boycott of the Dorchester Collection hotel chain, which are operated by the Brunei Investment Agency headed by the Sultan.
https://twitter.com/TheEllenShow/status/1113177461276082177
Brunei has retained the death penalty but has not carried out an execution since 1957. The country first adopted sharia law in 2014 but in a duel penal system alongside Common Law. It has since brought it into full force over the last few years, with the final two phases, offences punishable by stoning to death and amputation, now being introduced.
The government announced on its website on Saturday that the new sharia law penal code would be coming into full effect on Wednesday.