A man arrested in Cambodia for what police described as “pornographic dancing” with young women tourists is baffled by his detention.
Police in Siem Reap, the tourist town close to the Angkor Wat temple complex, have arrested 10 men and two women from the UK, New Zealand, Canada, Norway and the Netherlands.
Announcing their detention, they released photographs of shirtless men dancing writhing around with women in what appears to be a nightclub.
Police now say the group, aged from between 19 to 35, are being questioned so that a case could be submitted against them in the provincial court.
However, according to the Daily Mail, one of the prisoners has claimed none of those arrested were in the photographs.
The prisoner said they at a villa party barbecue on Thursday at 4pm local time when police started to pluck people out of the crowd.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, they said: “We’re innocent. We don’t know why we’ve been arrested — we’re getting different stories from different people.
“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.]
“Our parents are doing what they can. It’s really just trying to keep a good vibe until we know the outcome.”
Among the group are five British men — Vincent Harley Robert Hook, aged 35, Daniel Richard Leeming Jones, 30, Thomas Alexander Jeffries, 22, Billy Stevens, 21, and Paul Francis Harris, 32.
Also arrested was Job Robertus van der Wel, from The Netherlands, 22, Canadians Jessica Drolet, of Ottawa, 25, and Eden Koazoleas, 19, of Alberta, David Nikolaus Aleksandr Ballovarre, of Oslo, Norway, 22, and Paul Martin Brasch, 32, of New Zealand.
If the group is found guilty, they could face a year in prison and could even be detained for six months before the case even goes to trial.
They said they have been sleeping on the floor of an office at a police station in Siem Reap for three days, and emphasised they had been treated well. They said officers were friendly and had even brought them pizza.