Two of the tourists in court
A British tourist, Eleanor Hawkins, was arrested for posing naked on top of a sacred mountain in Malaysia. The 24-year-old Southampton University graduate from Derby was detained at Tawau airport today, as she was flying out from the island of Borneo to Kuala Lumpur. She is one of five tourists arrested for the same stunt.
Three of the tourists turned themselves in to the Malaysia authorities: 23-year-old Canadian Lindsey Peterson, his 22-year-old sister Danielle Peterson, and 23-year-old Dutchman Dylan Snel. 33-year-old Canadian Emil Kaminski was arrested on Wednesday, and the Malaysia police are still looking for five other individuals involved in the incident.
On May 30, she set out to climb Mount Kinabalu as part of a tour that was organized by Jungle Jack Backpackers Lodge, a popular budget hostel less than a mile from the entrance to Kinabalu national park. On the way back, members of the tour group began to strip off their clothes, despite their tour guide warning them not to do so. Their response to the guide was, “Stupid man, go to hell.”
The group took a nude selfie and dressed so they could return to their lodge. A park ranger filed a complaint and Eleanor was the first to be arrested.
The deputy first minister of the state of Sarawak, Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, explained to the media that tourists need to understand and respect the culture and traditions of the places they visit. For Malaysians, this mountain is sacred.
Tribal elders have called for the case to also go before a native court.
These tourists could be imprisoned for up to three months.
The five are expected to appear before the court again on Monday, where they will find out if they are to face charges.
One of the five arrested, Emil Kaminski, is a blogger and adventure tourism organizer from Winnipeg, and appears to have no remorse for the incident. In addition to possible charges for indecent exposure, he may be also charged for insulting the culture via his posts on social media.
Kaminiski called the minister "a deranged prick, and a regressive" and was quoted as having said, “it's just a f------ mountain."
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