Cambodia police arrest five British men over 'pornographic dancing'

A group of 10 tourists – consisting of five British men and five foreign nationals, including two women – have been arrested in Cambodia for what police describe as "pornographic dancing".

The members of the group, whose ages range from 19 to 35, were arrested after a party in the popular tourist destination of Siem Reap was raided on Thursday, 25 January.

The Cambodian Police has also released images in which people allegedly from the group can be seen in sexually suggestive positions, the Cambodian Police website reported.

In a statement, authorities confirmed that 10 people had been charged following an investigation by the Office Combating Human Trafficking and Protection of Juveniles.

However, according to one of the members of the group – who spoke under condition of anonymity – said that they were confused about the situation as none of those arrested were in the photographs.

The tourists were manning a barbecue at a villa party at 4pm local time (9am GMT) when police arrived and began picking out people, the group member said, according to a report in The Telegraph.

"Honestly, it was really confusing. Everyone was confused. They raided, rounded us up – there were about 80 to 100 people at this party, some of them were tourists. There were about 30 of them [police officers]," the member added.

One of the accused even vomited in shock as they were being taken away by the authorities.

"Our parents are doing what they can. It's really just trying to keep a good vibe until we know the outcome," the detained tourist said.

"We're innocent. We don't know why we've been arrested – we're getting different stories from different people," the group member added, according to Sky News.

The prisoner told the Press Association that they believe officials are randomly targeting tourists and expats who wore bikinis in public and were taking part in pub crawls in Siem Reap.

The five British men arrested have been identified as Vincent Harley Robert Hook (35), Daniel Richard Leeming Jones (30), Thomas Alexander Jeffries (22), Billy Stevens (21) and Paul Francis Harris (32).

The Foreign Office confirmed that they were in contact with the British nationals in Cambodia, The Sun reported.

"We are assisting five British men arrested in Cambodia and are providing support to their families," a statement said.

Two Canadian women, a Norwegian man, a Dutch national and a New Zealander were also arrested in the raid.

As of now, a Cambodian lawyer has been assigned to the 10 tourists and the group is due in court on Sunday, 28 January.