LONDON (REUTERS) - The European Parliament on Thursday (April 18) strongly condemned Brunei for introducing "retrograde" Islamic laws that punish gay sex and adultery with death by stoning.

The Muslim-majority sultanate has drawn global condemnation from the United Nations, governments and a host of celebrities for introducing syariah laws on April 3.

Along with stoning for sodomy, the laws impose the death penalty on rapists and punish thieves with amputation.

The resolution adopted by the European Parliament "strongly condemns the entry into force of the retrograde Syariah Penal Code; (and) urges the Bruneian authorities to immediately repeal it".

The measure was passed on a show of hands, the Parliament said in a statement.

The lawmakers also called on the European Union to consider asset freezes and visa bans on the South-east Asian nation, and to blacklist nine hotels owned by the Brunei Investment Agency, including The Dorchester in London and The Beverley Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.

Mr Naqib Adnan, the second secretary of Brunei's embassy to the EU, declined to comment when reached by phone and said no other officials would comment.