The nine Australians – Jack Walker, Timothy Yates, Tom Whitworth, Tom Laslett, Nick Kelly, Edward Leaney, Branden Stobbs, James Paver and Adam Pasfield were charged with committing the offence under Section 290 of the Penal Code.
Walker is reportedly a policy adviser to Christopher Pyne, the Australian Defence Industry Minister.
Sessions Judge Harith Sham Mohamed Yasin invoked Section 173A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to not impose any punishment and instead released all nine with a caution.
Earlier, the nine men, aged between 25 and 29, pleaded guilty to a charge of committing public nuisance by stripping down to their underwear bearing the Jalur Gemilang print, to celebrate their countryman Daniel Ricciardo’s win at the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The men had, through a spokesman, issued an apology in court, saying they had “no intention of undermining this country and its sensitivities” with their act.
They also said they were unaware that stripping down to swimming trunks would offend local sensitivities.
Shafee Abdullah, who represented the nine men, had earlier argued that the court should invoke the provision due to the “trivial” nature of the offence as his clients had shown “remorse” for their actions.
The nine have been dubbed the “Budgie Nine” in media reports, stemming from the “Budgie Smuggler” term used to refer to men’s underwear.
Earlier this morning, the nine were brought to the court complex in handcuffs.
The Australian government and their media meanwhile has offered differing views about the arrest of the nine, with lawmakers saying the men should respect the laws of another country, while media outlets took a stance which seemed to imply that the Malaysian government was “overreacting.”
Ricciardo himself weighed in on the matter, saying prior to their charge in court, that the nine had “suffered enough.”