Aussie tourist may face jail term & public flogging for naked rampage in Indonesia

An Australian man has been arrested in Indonesia over an alleged violent rampage and would likely face prison time and public flogging, said authorities, reported CNN. The incident took place in a conservative area of Indonesia. Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones, a 23-year-old guy, has been taken into custody after allegedly attacking and injuring a local fisherman while being drunk. Jones belongs to Noosa in southern Queensland, Australia. According to CNN reports, he later got escorted to a press conference where he kept his head down while police officials outlined the allegations against him, on Friday.  

Drunk Aussie arrested in Indonesia 

Jone was staying at a local resort while on a surfing trip to the island of Simeulue on April 27. On the same day, he went “berserk” and hit a resort guard before chasing and striking residents of a nearby village, said officials. “According to people present at the scene, (he) went out of his room completely naked, yelling and causing a ruckus,” said Simeulue Police Chief AKBP Jatmiko. Further, he added the culprit had gone on to attack a local fisherman who fell off his motorcycle and sustained “a serious foot injury that required 50 stitches”. Jones would be now subjected to "Article 351 paragraphs 1 and 2 of the law… which carries a maximum imprisonment of five years," added Jatmiko. 

According to Indonesian police, drunk Jones would be prosecuted for drinking alcohol, which is prohibited in Aceh and punishable by law. The place where Jones was staying is the Indonesian Island of Sumatra, the deeply conservative Aceh has a special autonomous status. It is the only Indonesian province officially practising Sharia law, enforced by religious police officers, known as the Wilayatul Hisbah, and outlaws homosexuality, adultery, alcohol and gambling, reported CNN. Jones, who is an Australian man, would have a choice over whether to be prosecuted under Sharia law or provincial law, as per the Indonesian police department. According to a CNN report, if Jones has been found guilty under Sharia law he faces the possibility of 40 lashes and up to 2.5 years jail. If found guilty under provincial law, he faces the possibility of up to five years in jail. Meanwhile, his family released an official statement on April 30, in which they said, he has felt  “embarrassed and ashamed of his behaviour” and wanted to apologise to “the people of Indonesia for disrespecting their culture and laws”. However, there has been no response from the Australian embassy in Jakarta on this sensitive matter, reported CNN.