Four foreign hikers jailed over nude snaps on Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 13 June, 2015, 1:10pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 13 June, 2015, 1:15pm
Associated Press in Kuala Lumpur
Dutch national Dylan Snel (left, in blue shirt) is escorted by police as he and three others leave the court in Kota Kinabalu. Photo: AP
Four Westerners who posed naked on Malaysia's highest peak were yesterday sentenced to three days in jail and fined for obscene behaviour in a public place.
The four were among 10 foreigners who stripped naked and took photos on Mount Kinabalu on May 30. A local official has said the foreigners' behaviour was disrespectful to the mountain, which is believed to be sacred, and caused an earthquake last Friday that killed 18 climbers.
Dutch citizen Dylan Snel, British student Eleanor Hawkins and Canadian siblings Lindsey Petersen and Danielle Peterson pleaded guilty in a court in Sabah state on Borneo island to a charge of public indecency, The Star newspaper said on its website.
It said the women were topless while the two men were totally nude.
British national Eleanor Hawkins (front), along with other tourists from Canada and the Netherlands, were jailed and fined for obscene behaviour in a public place. Photo: Reuters
The court sentenced them to three days in jail and a fine of 5,000 ringgit (HK$10,324) each, to be followed by their deportation, it said. They will be released after they pay the fines because of the time they have spent in jail since their arrests, it said.
The Malay Mail online news portal said the court was told the group of 10 had challenged each other to see who could remain naked the longest in the cold.
They ignored a plea by their mountain guide not to strip, the news portal said.
It quoted defence lawyer Ronny Cham as saying the four were young people whose generation was accorded more freedom and liberties.
Prosecutor Jamil Aripin agreed there was no link between the earthquake and their act but said it had outraged the local community.
