Tourists arrested in Cambodia for 'lewd images' taken on pub crawl

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This was published 6 years ago

Tourists arrested in Cambodia for 'lewd images' taken on pub crawl

By Talia Shadwell

Phonm Penh:  A New Zealander is among 10 tourists in Cambodia who have been charged with producing pornographic pictures after images emerged of people apparently demonstrating different sex positions.

Kiwi Paul Martin Brasch, 32, was arrested with seven other men and two women on Thursday when officers raided a rented villa in the tourist hotspot of Siem Reap, and could face a year in jail if convicted.

A Cambodian expatriate website published images released by police of the clothed tourists appearing to pretend to perform different sexual positions on the floor of the villa during a party.

Pictures dated January 25, 2018, issued by Cambodian National Police, show a group of unidentified foreigners, who are accused of 'dancing pornographically' at a party in Siem Reap town.

Pictures dated January 25, 2018, issued by Cambodian National Police, show a group of unidentified foreigners, who are accused of 'dancing pornographically' at a party in Siem Reap town. Credit: AP

The villa was a stop on a pub crawl, Cambodian police said. The nationalities of the other tourists included British, Dutch, Canadian and Norwegian.

All 10 were charged on Sunday with producing pornographic pictures.

Samrith Sokhon, the prosecutor of the Siem Reap provincial court, told the Associated Press the group could face up to a year in prison if convicted.

"Any people producing pornography is contrary to Cambodia's traditions," he said.

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A member of the group told the Press Association from their cell on Saturday night that none of those arrested were actually in the photographs.

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"Honestly, it was really confusing. Everyone was confused. They raided, rounded us up, there was about 80 to 100 people at this party, some of them were tourists. There were about 30 of them (police officers)," he said.

The prisoner said the group believed the investigation was targeting tourists and expats in the south-east Asian country for wearing bikinis in public, and in relation to expat-run pub crawls in Siem Reap.

The mother of one of the 10 prisoners said they were told to sign court documents in the Khmer language without the help of a translator.

She said she had lost contact with her son by Sunday afternoon and was trying to liaise with the parents of others in the group for further news.

PA

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