Students and lecturers are demanding that Aberdeen University “immediately” strip the Sultan of Brunei of his honorary degree after he introduced a new law punishing homosexuals by stoning them to death.
Brunei yesterday passed strict Islamic laws, where adulterers will also be stoned to death and people found guilty of theft will be punished by having limbs amputated.
Those who commit the offence of “insult or defamation of the Prophet Muhammad” will receive the death penalty, while lesbians face “40 strokes of the cane” or 10 years in jail.
The move has sparked an international outcry and Aberdeen University has come under pressure to revoke an honour it gave to Hassanal Bolkiah in July 1995.
The university yesterday said the decision was “under urgent review” with its Honorary Degrees Committee.
But an open letter signed by about 100 students, lecturers, staff members and alumni said the degree should be “immediately” revoked.
Aberdeen North MP, Kirsty Blackman, said the people of the city should “do anything we can to take a stand against this hatred”.
She said: “No-one should ever be discriminated against for being gay and I am horrified that in 2019 a country is introducing new laws which could potentially put people to death simply because of who they love.
“This news is deeply shocking, and I am backing calls to remove the Sultan of Brunei’s honorary degree.”
Aberdeen South MP, Ross Thomson, added: “I think the honorary doctorate could be seen as somehow endorsing this horrendous proclamation.
“The university is absolutely right to review this. Aberdeen is an inclusive city.”
Torry councillor Catriona Mackenzie is an Aberdeen University graduate and described the laws passed in Brunei as “an attack on all LGBTQI communities”
Aberdeen University rector and co-convener of the Scottish Green Party, Maggie Chapman, urged bosses at the 15th-century institution to “take a stand”.
Among the laws passed is one stating that children who are convicted “may be instead subjected to whipping”.
Sultan Hassanal is worth £20billion and operates some of the world’s top hotels including the Dorchester in London and the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
The 72-year-old leader of the small South-East Asian nation, on the island of Borneo, said he wanted to see Islamic teachings in Brunei “grow stronger”.
Homosexuality was already illegal in the country and punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
An Aberdeen University spokesman said: “The university is inclusive and open to all.”
