--- description: Tourists will be released from jail upon paying a $1,330 fine title: Malaysia Jails, Fines Tourists for 'Indecent' Mountain Photo image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f7c662aeedb51c0/6988545ba988ca402d6b300c/gettyimages-476820816.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Malaysia](/tag/malaysia/) ## Malaysia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Malaysia Jails, Fines Tourists for 'Indecent' Mountain Photo  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 12, 2015 8:05 PM CUT  British student Eleanor Hawkins (R), 24, and Canadian Lindsey Petersen (L), 23, arrive at a court in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia's Sabah state on June 12, 2015. British student Eleanor Hawkins (R), 24, and Canadian Lindsey Petersen (L), 23, arrive at a court in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia's Sabah state on June 12, 2015.STR—AFP/Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 12, 2015 8:05 PM CUT Four tourists were sentenced to three days in jail and ordered to pay 5,000 Malaysian ringgit ($1,333) for stripping off their clothes atop a mountain in northern Malaysia and taking photographs that incensed local residents, who consider the peak a sacred dwelling ground for deceased ancestors. The presiding judge for Kota Kinabalu Magistrates’ Court said that the tourists had shown sufficient remorse for their actions and would be deported upon payment of the fines, since they have already spent three days in jail, the BBC [reports](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-derbyshire-33105999 "undefined"). One local paper [reported](http://time.com/3917317/spiritual-ceremony-earthquake-sabah-mt-kinabalu-emil-kaminski-monkeetime/ "undefined") that residents linked the tourists’ behavior to a 5.9 magnitude earthquake that struck the region on June 5, killing 18 people. Timothy Hawkins, father to one of the prisoners, expressed [regret](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-derbyshire-33105999 "undefined") on behalf of his daughter to the BBC. “Eleanor knows what she did was wrong and disrespectful and she is deeply sorry for any offense she has caused to the Malaysian people,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3919719/malaysia-jails-fines-nude-photo-mountain-tourists/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3919719/malaysia-jails-fines-nude-photo-mountain-tourists/"},"headline":"Malaysia Jails, Fines Tourists for 'Indecent' Mountain Photo","datePublished":"2015-06-12T20:05:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:10:32.106Z","description":"Tourists will be released from jail upon paying a $1,330 fine","url":"https://time.com/3919719/malaysia-jails-fines-nude-photo-mountain-tourists/","keywords":["Malaysia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f7c662aeedb51c0/6988545ba988ca402d6b300c/gettyimages-476820816.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f7c662aeedb51c0/6988545ba988ca402d6b300c/gettyimages-476820816.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"MALAYSIA-QUAKE-BRITAIN-CANADA-NETHERLANDS-COURT","caption":"MALAYSIA-QUAKE-BRITAIN-CANADA-NETHERLANDS-COURT","creditText":"STR—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/malaysia/","name":"Malaysia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3919719/malaysia-jails-fines-nude-photo-mountain-tourists/","name":"Malaysia Jails, Fines Tourists for 'Indecent' Mountain Photo"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Global Risks You Should Care About Right Now","description":"A yearly look ahead about what you should—and shouldn’t—worry about in the geopolitical and economic landscape for 2015","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/PqXWqYtA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-01-13T22:16:32.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PqXWqYtA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3919719/malaysia-jails-fines-nude-photo-mountain-tourists/","duration":"PT4M20S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3919719/malaysia-jails-fines-nude-photo-mountain-tourists/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```