Nine Australians detained over 'premeditated' Budgy Smuggler display at Malaysian Grand Prix

Malaysian authorities who have detained nine Australian men for three nights would regard their actions in stripping down to their briefs and drinking beer from shoes as premeditated, Australia's foreign minister said Wednesday.

The nine have been in police custody since Sunday when they stripped down to Budgy Smuggler-brand swimsuits decorated with the Malaysian flag in full view of thousands of spectators at the Sepang race track Sunday after Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo won the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop that their families had flown from Australia to be with the men.

She dismissed reports by some in the Australian media that the men's exuberant display was just a lapse of judgment.

“It was clearly premeditated. They were wearing the Budgy Smugglers and had bought them in Australia,” Bishop told Nine Network.

Bishop said she had met Jack Walker, an adviser to Defense Industry Minister Chris Pyne, who was among the arrested men aged 25 to 29.

Police say the men were being investigated for “intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace” and public indecency.

Police said the men face up to two years in jail, a fine or both if they are found guilty.

Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper dubbed the men the Budgie Nine, using a spelling variation of the abbreviated name of the budgerigar, a small Australian parrot. The name plays on nine Australians arrested in Indonesia for heroin trafficking in 2005 who became known as the Bali Nine.

“Dear humourless Malaysia. Free the Budgie Nine,” a front page headline said.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he would not comment on whether it would be fair for the Australians to be sentenced to prison.

“We encourage Australians not to get into trouble and that is why we encourage them to respect the laws of the countries in which they are in,” Turnbull told reporters.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said Tuesday that the men's decision to strip down was inappropriate and ill-advised.

“You're in another nation, you've got to be careful in what you do,” Joyce told reporters in Canberra. “But I'm sure — well, I'm hoping — the Malaysians will understand that I don't think there's any real malice in it. Stupidity? Obviously. Malice? No.”

Associated Press