French tourists guilty in Sri Lanka over Buddha photos

A Sri Lankan court has given suspended jail terms to three French tourists for wounding the religious feelings of Buddhists by taking pictures deemed insulting, BBC reported on Aug. 21.

Two women and one man were detained in the southern town of Galle after a photographic laboratory alerted police, the report said. The incident is alleged to have taken place at a temple in central Sri Lanka.

The pictures show the travellers posing with Buddha statues and pretending to kiss one of them.

Police spokesman, Ajith Rohana, told the BBC the French party had visited the laboratory to get pictures printed.

The images were impounded after the owner of the photographic laboratory alerted police, but they were later posted on a Sri Lankan website.

A magistrate sentenced the trio to six months in prison with hard labor, suspended for five years, which means they will not actually serve any time in jail, the British broadcaster said. The court also levied a small fine on them.

Mistreatment of Buddhist images and artefacts is strictly taboo in the country, BBC said.