The new system, which starts on 1 May, means that residents will face fines and jail terms for offences including pregnancy outside marriage and not saying prayers on a Friday. It will be phased in gradually and could also lead to the imposition of the death penalty for adultery. Brunei’s ruler, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, said: ‘We are not doing this just for the sake of it, we are doing this by order of Allah and what is in the Koran.’
Implementation
Anicee Van Engeland, law lecturer at SOAS in the University of London, said: ‘The question with Brunei is, are they going to be harsh on the implementation or are they going to be like Malaysia, which has not been?’ The country has a population of about 400,000. Source: Financial Times
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