Six Czech Tourists Arrested In Kazakhstan For Wearing ‘Borat’ Mankinis

When a group of culturally tone deaf (but also epic) tourists were on holiday in Kazakhstan, they wanted nothing more than to recreate the look of famous fictional Kazakhstani Borat, that they completely forgot where they were.

“This is my country of Kazakhstan. It locate between Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, and assholes Uzbekistan.”

It’s been more than a decade now since Sacha Baron Cohen’s cult classic Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan it’s still being referenced today. While, yeah sure, the humor is crude, often racist, sexist, and rather offensive to people from Kazakhstan, it’s endlessly quotable and no one will soon forget the image of Borat in his neon-yellow mankini.

This past Friday, a group of six Czech tourists, suited up in their matching mankinis and braved the snowy weather of the Kazakh capital, Astana to snap a Borat-inspired photo. While they thought they were pretty funny, city officials did not agree.

“Wawaweewa!”

They were left at a loss for words when police detained them for “minor hooliganism” and charged them each a fine of 22,500 Tenge (about $67).

The photo may have been in good fun, but for Kazakh citizens, it was a reminder of their country’s reputation as being racist, sexist, and underdeveloped, due in large part to the film and its legacy. In fact, the film was made illegal in the country and the government threatened to sue Cohen.

The fact still remains that pulling a stunt like this is just not culturally acceptable in Kazakhstan, where frolicking around nearly nude in public is a big no-no.

Иностранцы, переодевшиеся в купальники в стиле "Борат", сразу же были задержаны полицией и доставлены в отделение полиции УВД района Есиль. В Астане 10 ноября 6 граждан Чехии были задержаны полицией за фотографирование в непристойном виде. Мужчины в костюмах, очень напоминающих "купальник Бората", названный так из-за одноименного персонажа нашумевшего фильма, устроили фотосессию на парковке ЭКСПО около надписи "I love Astana". "В пятницу на территории парковки возле ЭКСПО были задержаны граждане Чехии, которые фотографировались в непристойном виде. По данному факту возбуждено административное производство по статье 434 административного кодекса " Мелкое хулиганство" и материалы дела отправлены в суд для принятия решения", – сообщила руководитель пресс-службы ДВД столицы Софья Кылышбекова. Специализированный межрайонный административный суд города Астаны в тот же день рассмотрел административное дело и вынес решение. Все граждане Чешской Республики понесли административное взыскание в виде штрафа в 10 МРП (около 22 с половиной тысяч тенге), уточнили в пресс-службе суда. ______ Материал взят у @zhaloby_astana ______ Подпишись на нашу резервную страницу @zhest_kz_new

A post shared by Жесть в Казахстане (@zhest_kz) on Nov 13, 2017 at 5:50am PST

Commenters on Instagram went as far as to say:

"This is teasing, they should have been jailed,"

[email protected]_solar__eclipse_

"They should have had a criminal charge for insulting the honour of the nation,"

-commenter

For their sake, I sure hope they were able to capture a photo before being stopped by police. A souvenir like that would be “very naiiice” to have!

By Nina / Wednesday 15 November 2017 15:25 / France

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