Briton in naked photo on mountain expresses relief at going home

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/14/malaysia-photo-girl-deported-to-uk

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The 23-year-old British woman who spent three days in a Malaysian jail with three other tourists, for posing partially naked on a sacred mountain, was on her way home last night after being deported.

“I’m looking forward to going home,” a smiling Eleanor Hawkins told reporters in the business class lounge in Kuala Lumpur international airport, where she was accompanied by a British consular official and airport security. She refused to comment further. She had arrived from the Malaysian city of Kota Kinabalu, where she was detained, and will continue to the UK.

The four, who include two Canadian siblings and a Dutch man, were found guilty of an “obscene act” by posing nude on the top of Mount Kinabalu, which has a spiritual significance for indigenous people. Pictures were posted on social media, causing a national uproar. Some Malaysians have suggested the act caused an earthquake that killed 18 people days later.

The four were sentenced to a 5,000 Malaysian ringgit (£860) fine and three days in jail from the time of arrest, which meant they were free to go on the same day. Hawkins’s lawyer said the group were ignorant of local customs and stripped off to “challenge each other” at the top of the mountain. After her conviction, Hawkins’s father, Timothy, said the sentence his daughter received was “appropriate” and “fair”.