Mt Kinabalu nudists plead guilty to ‘obscene acts’ and await sentencing

Four foreign tourists have pleaded guilty to posing naked on a sacred Malaysian mountain. Briton Eleanor Hawkins, 23, admitted the offence of obscene acts in public during her short court appearance alongside three others - Canadian siblings Danielle and Lindsey Petersen, and an unnamed Dutch man. They confirmed they committed an “obscene act in a public place to the annoyance of others”. The court heard the group had been making a large amount of noise and some had urinated in a pond during the incident, which had offended tribal elders in the area of Mount Kinabalu, a sacred mountain. and had been followed by an earthquake which some were blaming on the obscene acts.

Many Malaysians will have seen the photos and their actions have caused annoyance. We expect them to obey the law and respect our culture.

Prosecutor Jamil Ariffin

It is now expected that the four will hear their fate later today - a fate which could see them spending up to three months in jail. Prosecutor Jamil Ariffin said a jail sentence would serve as a “deterrent” to others and that it was also “in the public interest”. He added: “Just because we extend our hospitality to them it doesn’t give them the right to behave like this." He said he was not seeking to connect the act with the earthquake but that "public sentiment” should be taken into consideration and that the tourists “claiming to be young is no excuse”.

Asia-Pacific Mount Kinabalu