Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://thediplomat.com/2014/04/amid-sharp-criticism-brunei-delays-launch-of-sharia-law/
Amid Sharp Criticism, Brunei Delays Launch of Sharia Law
Officials nonetheless remain committed to introducing the harsh penalties.
By Luke Hunt
April 23, 2014
The tiny oil-rich sultanate of Brunei has announced that it will delay the introduction of Sharia law ?due to unavoidable circumstances?; however, officials were giving assurances that harsh Islamic penalties would still be implemented in the very near future.
No time frame was given after a report appeared in the Brunei Times quoting the assistant director of the Islamic Legal Unit as saying April 22 was only a tentative start date during a briefing with the Malaysian expat community and that the directive had come from the prime minister?s office.
A ?declaration ceremony? was expected to go ahead as planned on April 30, marking the launch of the first phase of the new penal code.
Efforts to phase the laws in to a modern Southeast Asian state have been ridiculed by human rights groups, angered many of the sultan?s subjects, and prompted warnings from the International Committee of Jurists that the hardline religious edicts were incompatible with human rights law...
Amid Sharp Criticism, Brunei Delays Launch of Sharia Law
Officials nonetheless remain committed to introducing the harsh penalties.
By Luke Hunt
April 23, 2014
The tiny oil-rich sultanate of Brunei has announced that it will delay the introduction of Sharia law ?due to unavoidable circumstances?; however, officials were giving assurances that harsh Islamic penalties would still be implemented in the very near future.
No time frame was given after a report appeared in the Brunei Times quoting the assistant director of the Islamic Legal Unit as saying April 22 was only a tentative start date during a briefing with the Malaysian expat community and that the directive had come from the prime minister?s office.
A ?declaration ceremony? was expected to go ahead as planned on April 30, marking the launch of the first phase of the new penal code.
Efforts to phase the laws in to a modern Southeast Asian state have been ridiculed by human rights groups, angered many of the sultan?s subjects, and prompted warnings from the International Committee of Jurists that the hardline religious edicts were incompatible with human rights law...