Brunei has written to the European parliament defending its new laws that call for homosexuality to be punished by stoning people to death.

The country says the harsh penalties are necessary to “safeguard the sanctity of family lineage and marriage.”

In a letter to the EU the Kingdom’s mission wrote that there was no ‘one system that fits all’ and it was planning to enforce the legislation to maintain the country’s “traditional, religious and social values”.

The former British protectorate said it has set a high standard for applying the new laws saying they would require two to four men of high moral standing to have witnessed the offence for the punishments to be applied.

Alongside the death by stoning for homosexuality, the country will also punish adultery, sodomy and rape with the death penalty. People caught stealing will face having a limb amputated.

The country says the laws will not apply to non-Muslims, unless the acts of sodomy or adultery are committed with a Muslim.

The European Parliament has condemned the new laws and called on the country to immediately repeal them.

OIP Staff