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When the Sultan of Brunei announced that he would introduce Sharia Law to the little oil rich sultanate in Southeast Asia he must have forgotten that he had a few investments in more tolerant parts of the world. Perhaps the sight of Vladimir Putin chowing down on his own foot during the Sochi Olympics was just too mouthwatering for the sultan to resist. Or maybe he was tired of Donald Sterling getting all of the bad billionaire press. Or maybe it's no fun being anything as anachronistic as a sultan in the 21st century, unless you can apply a few medieval nods to tyranny.
[BLURB]"No Virgin employee, nor our family, will stay at Dorchester Hotels until the Sultan abides by basic human rights." -- <em>Richard Branson</em>[/BLURB]
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Whatever his reasons, the international travel industry tends to be a bit more 21st century, and a boycott of the sultan's Dorchester Collection hotels is gathering steam. Yesterday, Virgin Atlantic's Richard Branson joined such Hollywood A-listers as Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres in the their boycott of the Beverly Hills Hotel, a Dorchester Collection property. The Dorchester Collection is owned by the Brunei Investment Agency, which is owned by the Brunei Government which is essentially owned by the Sultan of Brunei.
PHOTO: Jay Leno looks on from the podium before speaking in support of women's rights and LGBT groups at a protest across from the Beverly Hills Hotel, owned by the Sultan of Brunei, demanding he rescind a Taliban-like Brunei penal code which included the stoning to death of gay men and lesbians and the public flogging of women who have abortions, on May 5 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)
Christopher Cowdray, the chief executive officer of the Dorchester Collection, was quoted on CBS This Morning saying that his company obeys the laws of the U.S. and Europe and that the boycott of the Beverly Hills Hotel was unfair to the employees of that hotel. When asked, he would offer no opinion on the Brunei laws.
Interestingly, the 67-year old Sultan whose name is Hassanal Bolkiah, waited until after concluding the ASEAN meeting last October before making his announcement to impose Sharia Law beginning on April 22. ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is a ten-nation group whose charter observes human rights standards. Brunei's 420,000 person population is about two/thirds Islamic with the remaining being primarily Christian and Buddhist.
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Strict Sharia Law calls for death by stoning for sodomy, homosexuality, adultery, and other sexually inspired behaviors. The sultan, who we last heard from during the Iran Contra Affair in 1986, is said to have amassed a $24 billion fortune and lives in a palace with nearly 1,800 rooms.
PHOTO: Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah arrives at the Lotus Theatre ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government 2013 Opening Ceremony on November 15, 2013 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Branson, as visible a leader of the travel industry as there is, tweeted "No Virgin employee, nor our family, will stay at Dorchester Hotels until the Sultan abides by basic human rights." The Dorchester Group's portfolio also includes The Dorchester in London, Le Meurice in Paris, Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris, Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan, The Hotel Eden in Rome, Hotel Bel-Air, Le Richmond in Geneva, the Coworth Park outside of London and the 45 Park Lane, London.
The Beverly Hills' City Council is looking into the possibility of compelling the Sultan to disinvest from the Beverly Hills property. Last week, the Beverly Hills Hotel was boycotted by an LGBT conference because of the Sultan's decision and that boycott has been gathering attention. Brunei's Sharia Law will be applied in a new criminal code that will incarcerate those who don't attend Friday prayers, as well as unwed women who are pregnant. Flogging and the removal of limbs will be introduced for thieves. The plan is to introduce stoning for sodomy and adultery next year.
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