Kazakhstan: number one exporter of potassium, inventor of the trouser belt, home to the world’s top TV journalist, Borat. Unfortunately, authorities there take a dim view on mankinis – the raunchy beachwear popularized by the 2006 movie.
Six Czech tourists were caught in the cheeky costumes last Tuesday despite near-freezing temperatures in Astana, the country’s capital. They were each fined 22,500 tenge (£51, US$67) due to their “indecent” appearance.
However, the man behind the mustache, British actor Sacha Baron Cohen, took to social media on Tuesday to defend his scantily-clad comrades, offering to pay their fines for them. “To my Czech mates who were arrested. Send me your details and proof that it was you, and I'll pay your fine,” Baron Cohen posted on Facebook.
Reactions to the incident have been split. Kazakh journalist Assem Mirjekeeva asked on Facebook: “I wonder how would the Czech authorities react if our citizens did the same in their country?” Vitaliy Shuptar replied: “I think they would have not reacted. It is because our police are so sensitive."
Tris Kayo from the Czech Republic jumped to his country’s defense. He said “this does happen on a regular basis, not Czechs, but mostly UK citizens, Germans, Dutch and Scandinavians on stag parties here in Prague and to be honest, it’s quite harmless if not annoying at times!”
‘Borat’, released in 2006, was banned in Kazakhstan and was widely regarded at the time as insulting and sexist by the Central Asian nation.