Cambodia deports 3 tourists who take naked photos at Angkor heritage site

PHNOM PENH - Cambodia's Siem Reap Provincial Court on Tuesday gave a suspended prison sentence to three foreign tourists who took nude photographs in the complex of the famed Angkor Archeological Park and ordered their deportation.

The three convicts are a 19-year-old Dutch woman Kiki Stamou, a 30-year-old Italian man Bruno Margrini, and a 30-year-old Argentine man Luciano Gaston Munoz. The trio were arrested on Sunday for using their smartphones to take the photographs of their bare bottoms at Angkor Thom temple and Ta Prohm temple in the complex of the Angkor Archeological Park.

"The court gave a suspended term of seven months in jail to the two men and fined them $250 each, and a suspended sentence of six months in prison to the woman and fined her $200," said Chao Sunkeriya, a spokeswoman for the Apsara National Authority, which filed the complaint against the trio.

"The court orders their deportation soon after the verdicts and banned them from returning to Cambodia for 4 years," she said.

According to the spokeswoman, it was inappropriate to take naked photos at the temple, which is a worship site.

It was the third incident so far this year. In February, two American sisters were deported after they were convicted of taking nude photos at the temple, and in January, three French men were deported for the same action.

Angkor Archeological Park, inscribed on the UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1992, is the kingdom's most popular tourist destination. It is located in Siem Reap province, some 315 km northwest of capital Phnom Penh.

The site attracted 2.35 million foreign tourists last year, according to government figures.