Ten tourists that traveled together to Cambodia were arrested after allegations of pornographic dancing were made against them. Since the foreigners took pictures of them during the situation and posted them on social media, the prosecutor in the case, on the Siem Reap provincial court, Samrith Sokhon told The Associated Press:
“Any people producing pornography is contrary to Cambodia’s traditions.”
About 90 foreigners were detained, but only ten of them were arrested, now they face charges that involve up to a year of sentence.
Partying hard near a temple complex
The tourists rented a Villa (raided on Thursday) which was one of the places they ended up while they participated in a “pub crawl.” The issue began when pictures of the scandalous dancing were released among the social media of the young people.
The local Police detained 90 people but only arrested 10 of them. Five are British, two are Canadians, one Norwegian, one New Zealander and the last one is from the Netherlands. The youngest of the group is 19 years old and the oldest 35 years old.
All of the arrested claim they’re innocent and that they did nothing wrong, unknowing the cause of the arrest and allegedly hearing different stories from diverse people. One of the tourists told The Guardian that he believed they were trying to be cracked down [referring to their foreign state] due to breaking local traditions.
According to The Guardian, the leader of anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection department, Duong Thavry, confirms the statement made by the anonymous foreigner made above.
The raided Villa sits near the Angkor Wat temple complex, the largest monument in the world, a significant religious center of Hindu mythology.
A recurrent problem
Authorities in Cambodia are used to this kind of situation, considering the number of tourists flooding the place every year, and the ignorance that surrounds them, regarding knowing the religious significance of some western attitudes that are not related to their understanding of respect.
Some visitors are even immobilized and forced to leave the temple complex. The reasons for this is the cultural insult that taking a revealing picture and posting it online or wearing inadequate clothes, like bikinis, inside the temple means for the locals.
A significant amount of tourist was even expelled from Cambodia in 2015, after taking pictures naked at the temple complex. They were arrested in the place and sentenced soon after.
Meanwhile, the ten foreigners captured on Thursday can only hope to get out with a warning, without having to face further punishments, although they have also stated that they’ve been treated well and their only concern is their families.
The British nationals have the assistance of Britain’s Foreign Office, and their families are currently supported by the organization as well.
Source: BBC News