Sultan of Brunei, who has absolute powers in the small oil rich country, is on a course to take his country to an even darker place, than the one it is in now, under his autocratic rule.
Sultan Bolkiah, has introduced a set of punishments, under Islamic tenets, that prescribe the harshest penalties for transgression such as adultery, abortion or thievery.
The Sultan has declared that it has long been his wish to bring these laws into effect. But the punishments are reminiscent of those imposed by the Taliban, a brutal regime that appalled the world.
Although other autocratic or theocratic states have similar rules, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, one would not have thought that the Sultan, who prides himself of being essentially a man of the world, needed to resort to such measure. More poignantly, why now?
The Sultan however, has always had a penchant for returning to a more orthodox past. He introduced Shari'a law in 1996. His family has ruled the country for more than 600 years, giving him the power and the authority to make such changes.
In fact, almost all other religions in Brunei are not only monitored, but in some cases, repressed.
Allthough the legislative office of the sultanate has said that the harsher laws would only be applied when there is an overwhelming burden of proof, the fact remains that Brunei is a very closed system, where outside forces or scrutiny do not apply.
Already human rights agencies have expressed concern at the Sultan's decision to impose such penalties. And the Brunei population includes non ethnic civilians, mostly Chinese, who could be judged under those same rules, although they are not of the Muslim faith.
Although living conditions in the sultanate are very good, with complete social and medical networks that are free, the new direction taken by the Sultan could take the small country to an more autocratic and totalitarian place.
Partial Source : France 24/ 10.22.13
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