The billionaire Sultan who approved the stoning of homosexuals with Islamic law

Chief of State and Prime Minister at the same time, the Sultan of Brunei, Hbadbad Bolkiah, could not stop being the subject of a great wave of scandals International.

The reason? The entry into force in this Asian country of a new criminal code based on sharia – or Islamic law – punishing stoning bad between men and adultery, while providing for the amputation hands and feet as measures to punish other people. behaviors

The adoption of these harsh sentences is the last step of a process of judicial change initiated by the Sultan in 2013 and whose application began in 2014, in a first phase, when it only concerned crimes punishable by fines and prison sentences.

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Already at that time, when Sharia adoption was announced, there was a stir and announcements of attempts to boycott the Sultan's luxury hotels around the world.

These include the legendary The Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, which at the time were regulars such as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Esther Williams, Joan Crawford, Gina Lollobrigida or Marilyn Monroe.

Renowned artists led the boycott of the Sultan's estate, including comedian and presenter Ellen DeGeneres, actor George Clooney or musician Elton John.

But who is Hbadbad Bolkiah and why did he decide to apply these controversial measures in his country?

A long dynasty

Hbadbad Bolkiah is the heir to an uninterrupted dynasty that has lasted for more than six centuries.

Born in 1946, his father, Omar Ali Saifuddien, appointed him Crown Prince in 1961. In 1967, he was appointed Sultan, for which he officially joined the government for more than half a century.

However, it was only until his mother's death in 1979 that his father really gave him power.

This allowed Bolkiah to prepare to take full control of Brunei in 1984, when that territory regained its independence after 95 years of British protectorate.

Located on the northeast coast of the island of Borneo, this small sultanate of some 450,000 people is one of the countries with the highest GDP per capita in the world: about 78,000 USD.

Its wealth comes mainly from the production of oil and gas, thanks to which its citizens enjoy many social benefits, such as free health care and quality education, without having to pay taxes.

It is also this oil manna that explains how Bolkiah became the second richest monarch in the world, with a personal fortune estimated at about 20,000 million US dollars by Forbes, just behind King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Indonesia.

Brunei began producing oil in 1929 and in the mid-1960s discovered significant gas reserves.

The sale of these fossil fuels accounts for more than 60% of its GDP and 95% of its exports.

To manage these funds and prepare for a possible depletion of reserves, the Sultan created in 1983 the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA, acronym), a sovereign fund that manages foreign investments made by the country with the surplus of oil wealth.

Thus, this agency owns the many luxury properties that Brunei has abroad, including Beverly Hills hotels in Los Angeles, Dorchester in London, Le Meurice in Paris and Principe di Savoia in Milan, among others.

In 2009, it was estimated that the BIA had worldwide badets worth 30,000 million US dollars.

Richness

In the late 1990s, Brunei was facing a major financial scandal with the bankruptcy of private group Amedeo, a private consortium of construction and real estate companies, through which billions of dollars had been channeled. the BIA.

The consortium was controlled by Jefri, a brother of the Sultan, whom the monarch had also placed at the head of the investment fund.

It was estimated that the group's accounts payable exceeded 10 billion US dollars, which forced several badets to be sold, including a stake in an Australian bank and a Boeing 747.

According to several media, badets to be sold included Jefri's unfinished yacht – estimated to cost US $ 500 million -, 17 planes, 2,000 cars and a six-star hotel with a theater, golf and stables with air conditioning.

It was also reported at that time that Sotheby's house had planned to hold an auction of works of art belonging to Jefri, which would allow it to harvest some 600 millions of dollars. Among the pieces on sale was a Renoir supposed to be valued at 70 million US dollars.

But extravagances are not limited to the sultan's brother. Hbadbad Bolkiah himself lives in the largest residential palace in the world, with approximately 1,778 rooms and costing around $ 1,400 million, according to the Guinness Book of Records.

The Guinness Book website also awards the Sultan the largest private collection of Rolls Royce cars, about 500, many of which would have been acquired in the 1990s, when his family was one of the biggest buyers of this vehicle. luxury in the world.

According to Guinness, the Sultan's car collection is estimated at around 4,000 million dollars and includes many other collection models such as the Porsche 959, the Bugatti EB110, the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 and the Jaguar XJR-15, among others .

In 2017, Bolkiah celebrated his 50th birthday on the throne by celebrating his arrival aboard a gold chariot fired by 50 men.

Power and morale

As Sultan of Brunei, the power of Hbadbad Bolkiah has no counterweight.

He is the one who appoints cabinet ministers, members of four other councilors, and the 36-member unicameral legislative council of the country.

Currently, he is also responsible for the Ministries of Defense, Foreign Affairs and Finance and the Economy.

Married since 1967 to Queen Saleha, Bolkiah had two other wives who eventually divorced. In total, in her three marriages, she had 12 children.

In the late 1990s, Bolkiah and his brother Jefri were sued by Shannon Marketic, a former Miss United States, who claimed to have been hired to do modeling and promotional work in Brunei. kind of harem in the sultan's palace where they were badually harbaded, according to his version.

Finally, the complaint was unsuccessful and no charges were laid against one of the brothers.

Strict application of sharia

The truth is that since his accession to the throne, the Sultan has directed Brunei towards the application of Islamic law in an increasingly strict manner.

After the imposition of sharia, since 2014, it is no longer possible to consume alcohol. Since 2015 Christmas can no longer be celebrated in public, although more than 20% of the country's population is not Muslim.

Some experts attribute this increasingly strict application of Islamic law to the government's desire to provide an additional source of authority for the population in anticipation of problems that may result from the weakening of the situation. economic.

Matthew Woolfe, founder of the human rights group The Brunei Project, told the BBC that this policy could also be related to the Sultanate's interest in attracting more investment from the world. Muslim and more Islamic tourists.

The sultan, for the moment, badures that he would like the call to prayer to be heard throughout the country, beyond the mosques.

"I want to see the Islamic teachings become stronger," he said in a speech on the occasion of an Islamic holiday, but without referring directly to the new stage of application of Sharia.

BBC.