By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Four foreigners arrested on suspicion of stripping naked and urinating on the sacred peak of Mount Kinabalu -- and thus starting a 5.9 magnitude tremor that led to the deaths of 18 climbers -- have been moved to secure cells in theMalaysian state of Sabah, according to their lawyer.
Ronny Cham told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that he had submitted a request to the local magistrate to isolate the tourists from other detainees citing safety reasons.
“I’ve asked the magistrate to grant them separate cells to guarantee their safety as they are foreigners, and my request was approved," he said in a text message.
"The two women and the two men will be held in cells separated from other detainees at the Kota Kinabalu police station.”
Although the four have been charged with indecency, it's the location of the act that has caused the most outrage.
Sabah’s indigenous Kadazan Dusun people believe that Kinabalu -- at 4,095 metres, Southeast Asia’s highest peak -- is sacred and carries the spirit of their ancestors.
The area's deputy chief minister, Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, has blamed the June 5 quake on the tourists' "sacrilegious act", and called for them to be brought to a native court and charged according to local customs.
“Whether other people believe this or not, it’s what we Sabahans believe. When the earthquake happened, it’s like a confirmation of our beliefs," he said in a June 6 press conference to announce the death toll following the quake.
Most of those who died were from a Singapore primary school, which was hit by an avalanche of boulders.
“It is a sacred mountain and you cannot take it lightly," said Kitingan.
The tourists -- Canadians Lindsey Petersen, 23, and Danielle Peterson, 22, Dutch national Dylan Snel, 23, and Briton Eleanor Hawkins, 24 -- were detained Tuesday under Section 294(a) of the Penal code for public indecency.
A police report lodged by Sabah park staff alleged that they were among 10 people who broke away from a group of 27 at the mountain’s summit plateau May 30 and proceeded to urinate and strip before taking photos -- images that were later published online.
According to the Malay Mail, they were approached and reprimanded by a mountain guide, but told him to “go to hell” and called him “stupid”.
Six days later, the quake struck near the mountain, killing the 18 climbers.
On Wednesday, authorities arrested a third person -- Emil Kaminski, a 33-year-old adventure travel blogger -- who allegedly led the group up the mountain.
After posting a photo allegedly showing him posing nude atop the peak, Kaminski and the nine others were accused of desecrating a holy site, insulting a culture and causing the deadly earthquake.
“I [will] kill you, stupid,” was one of the thousands of responses on Kaminski’s Facebook pages.
“You will pay for what you have done,” wrote another. “Just you wait!”
The tourists have been remanded for four days beginning Thursday by Ranau-based magistrate Dzul Elmy to facilitate investigations into the alleged offence.
It carries a sentence of up to three months jail or fine, or both if convicted.
In the press conference that followed the quake, Kitingan said he had had a premonition during breakfast that week that something bad was going to happen.
It involved a flight of swallows circling outside the house, he said.
“At first I didn’t think anything of it, but after it went on for more than half an hour I knew something was not well. I brought it up with my wife and we both agreed that something bad was going to happen," he added.
“The next day, I was on the way to the airport when the earthquake occurred."
He stated that there is "almost certainly a connection" between the quake and the tourists' behavior.
On Wednesday, the Star reported that the Lotud tribe in the area's Tuaran district would conduct a “monolibabow”, or a ceremony to speak with the mountain’s spirits on Saturday.
It will be conducted by at least two Lotud priestesses, known locally as “tantagas”, it added.
“We would like to know if the acts of desecration on the mountain had anything to do with the earthquake," said Tuaran native chief Saniban Amphila.
