A Turkish immigrant charged with assaulting his wife has told a New Zealand court that they were dancing, not fighting, when a worried passer-by called police, dpa reported.
The Hawera District Court was told Thursday that the passer-by thought Allaetin Can was hitting, kicking and strangling his wife, Elmas, in a car park outside their kebab shop in the town.
In fact, his lawyer, Grant Vosseler, told the court they were performing a traditional Turkish dance in celebration after a particularly profitable lunch shift in the shop.
He produced a DVD with a filmed example of the dance, called kolbasti, which the Taranaki Daily News reported Friday includes fake kicking, hitting, headlocks, throwing and falling.
The paper said the dance was believed to have originated in the 1930s in the seaport of Trabzon, north-east Turkey.
Judge Allan Roberts remanded Can until August 17 and said that police would assess the DVD, and if they accepted his lawyer's explanation the assault charge would be withdrawn.
Can told the paper: "We're always dancing. I'm happy to dance with my wife and my family. What's wrong with that?"
He said his wife was not able to explain the situation when questioned by police because of her poor grasp of English.
"My wife was so nervous and confused when police came, her English no good," he said.
"Someone complain on me, I go to court for nothing. If English was good, no case."
His wife said only: "My husband is a good man."