Sacha Baron Cohen intervenes after incident in Kazakh capital
Sacha Baron Cohen, the star responsible for the 2006 movie, Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, has offered to help a group of tourists who fell foul of the law in Astana.
Six Czech tourists were arrested in Kazakhstan’s capital earlier this month for wearing nothing but mankinis, the notorious one-piece made famous by Baron Cohen during promotion for the Borat movie in Cannes.
The six were arrested on minor hooliganism charges according to local reports and fined 22,500 tenge (57 euros) each for their “indecent appearance”.
As news of their arrest spread, the comedian stepped in with a pledge to help them out via his Facebook page.
It’s not yet clear if any of the mankini-wearing party have taken him up on his offer.
Sacha Baron Cohen has something of a mixed relationship with Kazakhstan, a country he roundly mocked via the Borat movie. Kazakhstan banned the film upon its release and threatened to sue the actor. But in 2012, Kazakhstan’s foreign minister said he was “grateful” to Borat for helping to boost tourism to the country.