Petition Calls For Australia To Ban Royal Brunei Airlines

SBS News reports:

A petition to ban Royal Brunei Airlines from landing in Australia has gathered steam as Virgin Australian cancelled staff travel on the airline following the country’s introduction of harsh Sharia law that includes the death penalty for gay sex.

The petition, directed to the Minister and Shadow Minister for Transport, calls on the government to “commit to a ban on Royal Brunei from flying into and out of Australia”.

“The last thing you expect to happen if you board a flight from Australia – as a law-abiding citizen – is to run the real risk of falling victim to a shocking law that could potentially see you jailed, or even executed,” the petition, which as so far been signed by more than 13,000 people, reads.

The Guardian reports:

Qantas, whose chief executive, Alan Joyce, is one of Australia’s highest-profile openly gay business leaders, declined to comment on whether it was reviewing its staff travel deal with Royal Brunei.

The tough sharia penal code in the tiny south-east Asian country – ruled by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah – came into force this week following years of delays.

The laws, including death by stoning for adultery and gay sex, make Brunei the first place in east or south-east Asia to have a sharia penal code at a national level, joining several mostly Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia.