Brunei implements stoning to death under new anti-LGBT laws

A small South-east Asian country of Brunei is introducing strict new Islamic laws that will make gay sex an offence punishable by stoning to death.

The move has sparked international condemnation.

The new measures, that come into force on Wednesday, also cover a range of other crimes including punishment for theft by amputation.

In a public address on Wednesday, the country's sultan called for "stronger" Islamic teachings. "I want to see Islamic teachings in this country grow stronger," Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said, according to AFP news agency, without mentioning the new laws.

Under the new law, individuals will only be convicted of gay sex if they confess or are seen committing the act by four witnesses. Homosexuality was already illegal in Brunei and punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Brunei's gay community has expressed shock and fear at the "medieval punishments".

"You wake up and realise that your neighbours, your family or even that nice old lady that sells prawn fritters by the side of the road doesn't think you're human, or is okay with stoning," one Bruneian gay man, who did not want to be identified, told the BBC.

The death penalty would apply to offences such as rape, adultery, sodomy, robbery, and insult or defamation of the Prophet Muhammad.

Public flogging as a punishment for abortion would also apply, as well as amputation for theft.

Other changes including making it a criminal offence to "persuade, tell or encourage" Muslim children under the age of 18 "to accept the teachings of religions other than Islam".

The law mostly applies to Muslims, though some aspects will apply to non-Muslims.