George Clooney calls for boycott of Brunei-owned hotels over gay sex death penalty
- The nine hotels are located in the US, Britain, France and Italy
- Homosexuality is already illegal in the sultanate, but it will now become a capital offence
“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 on the website Deadline Hollywood.
“I’ve 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 added.
Brunei is an absolute monarchy which has been ruled for 51 years by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.
The nine hotels mentioned by Clooney are located in the US, Britain, France and Italy.
Brunei will implement the harsh new penal code – which also mandates amputation of a hand and foot for theft – starting next Wednesday.
