After being found guilty of violating Indonesian law and insulting a Hindu rite on Instagram, a 26-year-old Swiss visitor was given a one-year prison sentence. Swiss construction worker Luzian Andrin Zgraggen called the deserted beach during the Nyepi holiday “crazy” in a video he posted to his Instagram story.
According to local media, he tweeted a video of himself violating the holiday’s rules along with an obscene caption. “I arrived at the beach. I escaped their grasp. It’s all dark. “Nobody out here. S*** crazy,” he recorded and posted on social media. After the video he posted infuriated Balinese people on social media, Zgraggen was taken into custody.
Nyepi, sometimes called the Day of quiet, is an annual Balinese holiday on which people fast, meditate, and observe quiet. People must stay at home for 24 hours once the island completely shuts down. Regardless of their faith or whether they are visitors or not, everyone in Bali is expected to abide by the rules.
“What the defendant did offended the Balinese people, hurt their faith and provoked public outrage,” the judge declared, according to the Associated Press. The island airport closes, internet connection is restricted, and even using electricity is forbidden.
Zgraggen claimed that he had no intention of offending the Balinese people or the ceremony and that he was unaware of how serious the limits were.
He said in court, “I deeply regret what I did, I apologize to the Balinese people,” according to an Associated Press report.
During Nyepi, Bali zealously enforces its cultural regulations, and foreign visitors who disobey them risk instant incarceration, expulsion, or traditional fines.
Balinese officials and residents have seen an increase in misbehavior as foreign arrivals reach an all-time high of seven million.
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