Brunei announced Sunday it will not immediately impose the death penalty by stoning for the offense of engaging in adultery or gay sex after the tiny Asian nation was the target of global backlash over its interpretation of Islamic law.

Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said in a broadcast on national television that his oil-rich kingdom will impose a "moratorium" on the death penalty in cases involving the shariah penal code.

"As evident for more than two decades, we have practiced a de facto moratorium on the execution of the death penalty for cases under the common law," he said. "This will also be applied to cases under the" shariah law.

(File photo of Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah in April 2016)
[Anadolu Agency/Getty/Kyodo] 

The statement came after the Southeast Asian country was slammed by British pop legend Elton John and American actor George Clooney for introducing the final phase of its shariah penal code on April 3, five years after it introduced the first phase in 2014.

The sultan also said that Brunei will ratify the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which it signed in 2015.

It is not clear how this will affect the implementation of harsh punishments such as amputation of limbs for theft.

Despite the suspension of the most draconian aspect of the law, he maintained that the Islamic law, just like the common law which Brunei introduced when it was a British protectorate, is "crucial in protecting the morality and decency of the public."

"I am aware that there are many questions and misperceptions with regard to the implementation" of the Islamic law.

"However, we believe that once these have been cleared, the merit of the law will be evident," he said.

"There should not be any concern on (the shariah law) as it is full of Allah's mercy and blessings."