SINGAPORE, December 24. /TASS/. Sharia police in Brunei have banned putting Christmas decorations on buildings in the Brunei capital. Police have delivered a reprimand to owners of restaurants and cafes who had hung up traditional Christmas decorations in their establishments in the run-up to the New Year celebrations, BruDirect news portal said Wednesday.

Sharia police issued a warning to restaurant managers that the use of Christmas decorations challenges the norms of Islam, said an employee on staff of one of the restaurants. During a police raid policemen made restaurant owners remove the Christmas symbols and warned that otherwise, they would face a criminal prosecution for violation of the law, the source said.

The demonstration of Christian symbols in public was banned by law and endorsed in the Criminal Code adopted in Brunei in 2013 and which came into force as of May 1, 2014. People who violate the law face a $15,000 fine and imprisonment for a term of up to five years.