Muslims in Brunei who commit adultery can expect to face the death penalty by stoning if found out, according to new sharia (Islamic law) law being introduced in the South East Asian state.
The UK's Daily Telegraph has reported the Sultan of Brunei is set to usher in a range of capital and corporal punishments according to sharia law.
According to new laws, citizens found to have committed adultery will be stoned to death, while thieves can expect to have limbs amputated, with those caught drinking alcohol flogged in public.
The Daily Telegraph said the shift towards a more conservative brand of Islam had been condemned by human rights groups in Britain, who called on British institutions to rescind the many accolades and awards that have been bestowed upon Brunei's leader Hassanal Bolkiah in the past.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, was quoted by the newspaper as saying:
"I think any university that has granted an honorary law degree to the Sultan should be thinking again as to whether they want to be associated with him," adding, "It's a huge step backwards, a demonstration of the more feudal aspects of Brunei that harks back to the 18th century model of absolute monarchy, and it gives a license for human abuses to be made law."
Among the richest men in the world, Bolkiah has received a knighthood from the Queen of England, and honorary doctorates universities such as Oxford, Kings College London and Aberdeen.
Brunei has a population of almost half a million people and has already implemented much of Islamic law. For example, for many years it has been illegal to buy alcohol in the country or disseminate information about religions aside from Islam.