A law goes into effect Wednesday in Brunei that will punish adultery and homosexual sex with death.
Anyone found guilty of the offenses will be stoned to death, according to a new penal code based on Sharia law, an Islamic legal system that outlines strict corporal punishments.
The strict new laws were announced by the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, in 2014 and have been rolled out gradually in the small nation on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. The latest phase of implementation, including the brutal new provisions, was quietly announced on the Brunei attorney general's website in December.
The Sultan "does not expect other people to accept and agree with it, but that it would suffice if they just respect the nation in the same way that it also respects them," according to the government website. The country has no plans to halt the law amid international pressure, according to a statement from the office of Brunei's Prime Minister released Saturday.
"Brunei Darussalam is a sovereign Islamic and fully independent country and, like all other independent countries, enforces its own rule of law," the statement said.
Brunei government agencies have not responded to CNN's inquiries.
The controversial proposal has provoked strong opposition in some quarters, and actor George Clooney called for the immediate boycott of hotels owned by the Brunei Investment Group, which is controlled by the Sultan of Brunei, in an op-ed he wrote for Deadline.
Here are some of the reactions from around the world. Read more via CNN