‘It’s dirty dancing, not porn’

The 10 foreigners detained in Cambodia jail cry foul over their wet and wild party.

PHNOM PENH: Ten foreigners detained in Cambodian jail after their arrests last week admit they were dancing provocatively at a party but deny police accusations they made porn, their lawyer said.

The group – five Britons, two Canadians, a Norwegian, a New Zealander and a Dutch national -were arrested on Thursday during a party at a private villa in Siem Reap, the gateway to the famed temple ruins of Angkor Wat.

The defendants, aged between 19 and 31, are still in detention after they were charged by a Siem Reap court on Sunday with producing pornographic pictures and materials, which carries a maximum oneyear sentence.

But their appointed lawyer Soung Sophea told AFP his clients rejected the allegations.

Soung Sophea said they admitted wearing “sexy” clothes and singing and dancing as well as drinking during a pool party called “Let’s Get Wet”.

But their activities “did not fall under the charges”, he said. “They did not produce pornographic images or show their genitals.”

The group is “frustrated because they are not guilty but in jail”, the lawyer said, adding that he would meet them to discuss seeking bail.

Cambodia’s national police said on its website over the weekend that the 10 foreigners were accused of “singing and dancing pornographically”.

Police also released photos that show pairs simulating various sexual positions at a party, but the origin of the images is unclear and many in them do not appear in the line-up also posted by authorities.

Seventy-seven partygoers were rounded up in the crackdown but were released with a warning.

Samrith Sokhon, a prosecutor at the court in Siem Reap, said the group produced “pornographic images” and circulated them online to attract tourists to the event.

He said their activities were against “our tradition” and noted Siem Reap’s proximity to Angkor Wat, which in addition to being Cambodia’s most popular tourist site is also considered sacred.

Cambodia banned skimpy clothing inside the temple complex in 2016 and has previously arrested foreigners for taking racy photos among the ruins.

But deportation not prison time is the norm.