George Clooney has called on the public to boycott nine hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei following the nation’s cruel anti-gay laws that would see anyone engaging in adultery and gay sex to be stoned to death beginning on April 3.
On Wednesday it was revealed that homosexuality will now become a capital offense in the nation of Brunei where it is already illegal. The law only applies to Muslims.
In response to Brunei’s strict Sharia law, that has been on hold for four years amid heavy criticism, Clooney penned an opinion piece for Deadline, calling for a boycott of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah’s hotels.
‘On this particular April 3rd the nation of Brunei will begin stoning and whipping to death any of its citizens that are proved to be gay,’ Clooney wrote.
George Clooney has called on the public to boycott nine hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei,Hassanal Bolkiah (right), following the nation’s cruel anti-gay laws that would see anyone engaging in adultery and gay sex to be stoned to death beginning on April 3
Clooney went on to say that at ‘the head of it all is the Sultan of Brunei who is one of the richest men in the world’. The sultan owns The Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles (pictured)
The sultan also owns The Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles (pictured)
‘Let that sink in. In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism this stands alone,’ he added.
Clooney went on to say that at ‘the head of it all is the Sultan of Brunei who is one of the richest men in the world’.
‘The Big Kahuna. He owns the Brunei Investment Agency and they in turn own some pretty spectacular hotels,’ the actor wrote.
Some of those hotels are The Beverly Hills Hotel, The Hotel Bel-Air, The Dorchester in London and Hotel Eden in Rome.
Clooney admitted that he’s stayed at most of the nine hotels, but noted it was ‘because I hadn’t done my homework and didn’t know who owned them’.
‘They’re nice hotels. The people who work there are kind and helpful and have no part in the ownership of these properties.
‘But let’s be clear, every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery.
Clooney wrote that he’s ‘learned over years of dealing with murderous regimes that you can’t shame them’.
‘But you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way.’
He then listed the nine hotels owned by Brunei’s sultan and said: ‘It’s up to each of us what we want to do.’
Clooney admitted that he’s stayed at most of the nine hotels, but noted it was ‘because I hadn’t done my homework and didn’t know who owned them’. The Dorchester (pictured) is located in London
Another hotel owned by the sultan is 45 Park Lane (pictured), which is also located in London
Clooney said that ‘every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay’. The Coworth Park hotel (pictured) is located in the UK
Rights groups reacted in horror Wednesday to the latest hardline move from the resource-rich nation on Borneo, which practices a stricter brand of Islam than its neighbors Malaysia and Indonesia.
The tiny sultanate will implement the harsh new penal code next Wednesday.
The new penalty for theft is amputation of the right hand for a first offense, and the left foot for a second offense.
On Wednesday, Amnesty International urged Brunei to ‘immediately halt’ implementing the new penalties.
‘To legalize such cruel and inhuman penalties is appalling of itself,’ Brunei researcher Rachel Chhoa-Howard said in a statement.
‘Some of the potential “offenses” should not even be deemed crimes at all, including consensual sex between adults of the same gender.’
A notice on Brunei’s Attorney General’s Chambers dated December 29 last year said the provisions will take effect on April 3.
Brunei first announced the measures in 2013 but implementation has been delayed as officials worked out the practical details and in the teeth of opposition by rights groups.
However, a spokesman for the Brunei religious affairs ministry said only that Sultan Bolkiah was expected to make an announcement next week regarding the implementation of the new Sharia laws.
‘Only after the event we will know regarding the date of the implementation of the new laws,’ he told AFP.
‘In terms of readiness, at the moment we are prepared to enforce the amputation of the hand for stealing only. That is all.’
Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch warned that implementation of the law ‘will quickly drive the country towards human rights pariah status in the eyes of foreign investors, tourists, and international agencies’.
Clooney said he’s ‘learned over years of dealing with murderous regimes that you can’t shame them’. ‘But you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way.’ Pictured is the Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan
Rights groups reacted in horror Wednesday to the latest hardline move from the resource-rich nation on Borneo, which practices a stricter brand of Islam than its neighbors Malaysia and Indonesia. Another hotel owned by the country’s sultan is Hotel Eden in Rome (pictured)
Le Meurice in Paris (pictured) is also owned by the sultan of Brunei
He added: ‘If this ill-considered plan goes forward, there is every reason to believe the global boycott Brunei movement will re-start.’
Robertson said Brunei will become the only country in Southeast Asia to punish gay sex with death if it pushes through with the law.
Under a shift towards hardline Islamic law, Brunei in 2015 banned excessive Christmas celebrations for fear that Muslims could be led astray.
Brunei’s Sultan is no stranger to controversy at home – the monarchy was deeply embarrassed by a family feud with his brother Jefri over the latter’s alleged embezzlement of $15billion during his tenure as finance minister in the 1990s.
Court battles and investigations revealed salacious details of Jefri’s un-Islamic jetset lifestyle, including claims of a high-priced harem of foreign women and a luxury yacht he owned called ‘Tits’.