Homosexuals may be legally stoned to death if Brunei continues with proposed legislation, which it is believed will be passed by April 3.
Government documents reveal that in late December of 2018, the government of Brunei prepared to move forward after it criminalized homosexual acts in 2014. The next step for the small Asian country is to allow capital punishment of homosexuals.
While homosexual acts had already been illegal in the country since 2014, and had previously been criminalized in some form since the country existed under British rule, LGBT activists from around the world are cautioning that the country will soon allow “whippings and stoning to death” as punishment for those caught engaging in homosexuality, according to Gay Star News.
Gay Star News also reports that the Sultan of Brunei hoped to advance Sharia Penal Code in the country much more quickly, and was delayed after international uproar in 2014. Now, according to the website, the Brunei government is attempting to accomplish its goal of punishing homosexuals with barbaric deaths without the international community noticing.
The website does, however, note that “the burden of proof for conviction will be high,” as the accused must willingly confess, or four other individuals must testify to witnessing the accused commit a homosexual act.
However, there are justified fears that this will push “many of the LGBTI community further into hiding” and ramp up “anti-LGBTI sentiment among the population of the majority-Muslim country.”
This development comes barely a month after President Donald J. Trump launched a global initiative to decriminalize homosexuality after a man was hanged for his sexual orientation in Iran. President Trump had previously pledged to protect the LGBT population from violence stemming from the radical Muslim world.