Brunei's Sharia Law Will Be Rewarded by Obama's Fast-Track Trade Deal

Boycotts and protests of the famed Beverly Hills Hotel have shined a bright light on the oil-rich nation of Brunei's recent imposition of Sharia law, a brutal criminal code that now includes amputations and floggings for some offenses and the stoning to death of known gays, lesbians, transgender people and others, as homosexuality and adultery are now considered crimes that should be punished by a torturous execution.

The sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, who implemented Sharia law himself, owns the Dorchester Collection of hotels, which includes the Beverly Hills Hotel, long a favorite of Hollywood stars. This week Jay Leno protested outside the hotel with the Feminist Majority Foundation, which moved its Global Women's Rights Awards from the hotel. Gill Action's Political OutGiving conference, focused on LGBT rights, moved its conference last month. Ellen DeGeneres called for a boycott. Virgin CEO Richard Branson tweeted on Saturday, "No @Virgin employee, nor our family, will stay at Dorchester Hotels until the Sultan abides by basic human rights."

Jay Leno Joins Protest Outside Beverly Hills Hotel Against Brunei's Anti-Gay 'Death by Stoning' Law

A major protest was held on Monday outside the Beverly Hills Hotel in support of what's become a very large boycott against Dorchester Hotels, which are owned by the Sultan of Brunei, over his implementation of an anti-gay law which punishes homosexual acts with death by stoning.

Jay Leno was among the celebrities attending the demonstration, Variety reports:

“What year is this? 1814? Come on people, it’s 2014,” said Jay Leno, before some four dozen protesters with banners directed at the Sultan, including one that read, “Seriously, dude?”

“Evil flourishes when good people do nothing, and that is pretty much what this is,” Leno said at the rally, adding that the issue should hardly be divisive but was a matter of “common sense.”

The paper adds:

At the rally speakers that condemned the Sultan included Leno, wife Mavis, the Feminist Majority’s Kathy Spiller and Eleanor Smeal, labor activist Dolores Huerta and Lorri Jean of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. The event was held at Will Rogers Park, just across the street from the hotel, with speakers set up before a bank of a dozen news cameras and with the hotel’s iconic logo as a backdrop.

Jean denounced religion as a justification for violence abroad and here in the U.S.

Other high-profile figures and organizations boycotting the hotel chain are Sir Richard Branson, actor Stephen Fry, designers Peter Som and Brian Atwood , Ellen DeGeneres, Sharon Osbourne, director William Friedkin, and the Outgiving conference.

RICHARD BRANSON ANNOUNCES VIRGIN WILL BOYCOTT DORCHESTER HOTELS OVER BRUNEI'S ANTI-GAY STONING LAW

Virgin founder and CEO Richard Branson today joined what's becoming a very large boycott against Dorchester Hotels, which are owned by the Sultan of Brunei, over his implementation of an anti-gay law which punishes homosexual acts with death by stoning.

The hotels include the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles.

Said Branson in a tweet: "No @Virgin employee, nor our family, will stay at Dorchester Hotels until the Sultan abides by basic human rights"

HRC has also called on organizations to boycott the hotels:

Presently, the Aviva Family and Children’s Services, the Beverly Hills Bar Association, Cedars-Sinai Medical Hospital’s Helping Hand of Los Angeles, Colleagues Helpers in Philanthropic Services, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, the Independent School Alliance for Minority Affairs, the Partners in Care Foundation, and Teen Line in collaboration with Sony Pictures all have events scheduled at the Beverly Hills Hotel over the next month.

Said HRC's Chad Griffin:

“There are a number of hotels and venues in the Los Angeles area that aren’t owned by foreign leaders and governments that allow for the execution of its LGBT citizens.  We’re encouraging members of the LGBT community and our allies to consider those options instead of the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hotel Bel-Air––which are part of the Sultan’s Dorchester Collection. In addition, we’re calling on organizations that have upcoming events scheduled at these hotels to move them to other locations.

Other high-profile figures and organizations boycotting the hotel chain are actor Stephen Fry, designers Peter Som and Brian Atwood , Ellen DeGeneres, Sharon Osbourne, director William Friedkin, and the Outgiving conference.

“I have attended various events at both hotels over the past several years.  But given the extreme nature of these developments, I feel strongly that we in the LGBT community and our allies should take our business elsewhere.”

Brunei Begins Implementation of Sharia Law Punishments, to Include Death by Stoning for Homosexual Acts

After a short delay, the southeast Asian nation of Brunei will today begin implementation of a sharia law penal code which includes stoning to death any person convicted of sodomy and other sexually related offenses.

The United Nations human rights office ... voiced deep concern about the revised penal code in Brunei Darussalam which stipulates the death penalty for numerous offences, including robbery, adultery, and insult or defamation of the Prophet Mohammed, and introduces stoning to death as the specific method of execution for crimes of a sexual nature.

Rape, adultery, sodomy, extramarital sexual relations for Muslims, insulting any verses of the Quran and Hadith, blasphemy, declaring oneself a prophet or non-Muslim, and murder are the other offences for which the death penalty could be applied under the revised code...

Al Jazeera reports:

"Today... I place my faith in and am grateful to God the almighty to announce that tomorrow, Thursday May 1, will see the enforcement of sharia law phase one, to be followed by the other phases," Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said.

Islamic law penalties would be introduced over time and would eventually include flogging, amputation and death by stoning for various crimes.

Many members of the Muslim ethnic Malay majority have voiced cautious support for the changes. However, non-Muslim citizens led a rare burst of criticism on social media earlier this year, but largely went silent after the sultan called for a halt.

"Theory states that God's law is harsh and unfair, but God himself has said that his law is indeed fair," the sultan said.

News of the law has caused a boycott of the Beverly Hills Hotel, owned by the Sultan of Brunei, which many high-profile celebrities including Sharon Osbourne and Ellen DeGeneres have joined in recent days.