The group of nine Australian men who stripped down to their Speedos at the Malaysian Grand Prix to drink a ‘shoey’ could face up to two years prison if local police have their way.
The Aussie F1 fans were videoed on Sunday celebrating countryman Danial Ricciardo’s victory at the event by stripping down to just their swimming costumes and drinking beer from their shoes, emulating the somewhat odd habit of their hero when he’s earned a place on the dias.
The men’s cozzies were patterened as the Malaysian flag and bore the slogan “budgee smuglers”.
The local authorities in the socially conservative country were not amused and soon arrested the alleged louts.
Particularly embarrasing on the diplomatic front is the fact that one of the men behind bars works for Australia’s Minister of Defence Industry, Christopher Pyne.
Kuala Lumpur police hope to charge the group of men with ‘intentional insult with the intent to provoke a breach of the peace’, according to the ABC. If found guilty, the men would face a minimum penalty of a fine and a maximum penalty of a two-year jail term.
Police have said the men could appear in court to face the charges on Monday next week.
Malaysia’s Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed has accused the group of accused men of behaving with a political motive.
“We open our doors to tourists, we try to treat them as well as we can, sometimes even better than our own people, but when they come here with the intention to commit indecent acts to embarrass us I think that’s not how visitors should respond to our good treatment,” he said, according to the ABC.