--- ---  # Sacha Baron Cohen Offers to Pay Fines of Tourists Arrested for Wearing ‘Borat’ Mankinis by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Nov 22, 2017 9:18 AM UTC  Sacha Baron Cohen as "Borat" during a press conference in Sydney, Australia on Nov. 12, 2006. Sacha Baron Cohen as "Borat" during a press conference in Sydney, Australia on Nov. 12, 2006.Dani Abramowicz—FilmMagic/Getty Images by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Nov 22, 2017 9:18 AM UTC Sacha Baron Cohen [has volunteered](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42064224?mc%5Fcid=6686312ac9&mc%5Feid=6f06273544) to come to the rescue of six tourists in Kazakhstan, who were arrested for wearing “mankini” swimsuits made famous by the comedian in his 2006 movie _Borat._ The Czech tourists were [arrested and fined](http://time.com/5026484/tourists-detained-borat-kazakhstan/) 22,500 tenge ($68) after posing for photographs in the skimpy green one-pieces in the Kazakh capital of Astana earlier this week. Baron Cohen offered to foot the cost of their prank in a Nov. 21 Facebook post. “To my Czech mates who were arrested. Send me your details and proof that it was you, and I’ll pay your fine,” the actor and comedian [wrote ](https://www.facebook.com/SachaBaronCohen/posts/1746900385619054), directing injuries to “arrestedforwearingyourmankini@gmail.com.” _Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan_ starred Baron Cohen as a fictional Kazakh TV presenter whose travels to the U.S. exposed rifts in American culture. The movie attracted a devoted following, but it was not well received in Kazakhstan. _Borat_ [was initially banned](http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/01/29/kazakhstans-growing-film-industry-aims-to-counter-borat-image/), and the Foreign Ministry threatened to sue Baron Cohen, complaining that the film portrayed their country as prejudiced and backward, the BBC [report](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42064224?mc%5Fcid=6686312ac9&mc%5Feid=6f06273544)s. But the film inspired many fans to travel to the Central Asian country. In 2012, the Kazakh foreign minister [said he was “grateful”](http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/17826000/kazakhstan-thanks-borat-for-boosting-tourism) for the movie for “helping attract tourists.” 'Borat' Actor Offers to Pay Fans' Fines in Kazakhstan ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5034568/borat-sacha-baron-cohen-mankini-kazakhstan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5034568/borat-sacha-baron-cohen-mankini-kazakhstan/"},"headline":"Sacha Baron Cohen Offers to Pay Fines of Tourists Arrested for Wearing ‘Borat’ Mankinis","datePublished":"2017-11-22T09:18:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:20:06.689Z","description":"Six Czech fans were arrested in Astana while posting for photos wearing the film's famous \"mankini\" last week","url":"https://time.com/5034568/borat-sacha-baron-cohen-mankini-kazakhstan/","keywords":["celebrities","Kazakhstan","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb89800b9babae7f/6988e6b1929fad25a5bee957/gettyimages-115465397.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb89800b9babae7f/6988e6b1929fad25a5bee957/gettyimages-115465397.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Borat Sydney Press Conference","caption":"Borat Sydney Press Conference","creditText":"Dani Abramowicz—FilmMagic/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/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5034568/borat-sacha-baron-cohen-mankini-kazakhstan/","name":"Sacha Baron Cohen Offers to Pay Fines of Tourists Arrested for Wearing ‘Borat’ Mankinis"}}]}] ```