Brussels, 02/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - Via the Twitter account of his spokesperson, John Clancy, Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht on Friday 30 May announced his support for the international protest against the introduction of sharia law in the Sultanate of Brunei.
“Karel De Gucht supports raising awareness of unacceptable strict sharia law in Brunei through Dorchester hotel boycott by many int celebs”, Clancy tweeted on Friday. De Gucht has joined the protest movement launched on 9 May by Kering chief executive, François-Henri Pinault, and joined by other celebrities, such as Richard Branson (Virgin), Anna Wintour (Vogue) and the comedian Stephen Fry.
The owner of the investment agency of Brunei, the Dorchester Collection group owns the luxury hotels The Dorchester and 45 Park Lane in London, Meurice and Plaza Athénée in Paris, the Principe di Savoia in Milan, the Richemond in Geneva, the Eden in Rome, as well as the Bel-Air and the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
On 30 April, the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, announced that Islamic law would be phased into the small enclave state to the north of the island of Borneo (Malaysia), which he has ruled with an iron fist since 1967. Amongst other things, the new criminal code of the Sultanate will allow stoning, amputation and beating. It also provides for capital punishment for theft with violence and stoning to death for extramarital sexual relations and those between adults of the same sex.
Through its High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, the EU expressed its concern, on 14 May, at the implementation of this new penal code. (EH)