A young Australian surfer jailed in an Indonesian province ruled under sharia law has explained what really happened the night he was accused of going on a ‘drunken naked rampage’.
Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones faced up to five years in jail after an ugly night on the island of Simeulue in conservative Islamic Aceh, during which he left his hotel room in his underwear and assaulted a local fisherman.
Mr Risby-Jones, who hopes to soon resume his job as a mechanic at Noosa Heads on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast after five weeks in detention, claims the incident was a misunderstanding.
His trouble began when he chose to keep surfing which caused him to miss travel connections for his flight home to Australia. Simeulue is famous for consistent waves all year-round.
Stressed at how and when he would return to Queensland, the 23-year-old claimed he had one shot of vodka in his hotel room late at night on April 27.
Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones faced up to five years in jail after an ugly night on the island of Simeulue in conservative Islamic Aceh after a ‘drunken naked rampage’
When Mr Risby-Jones threw a punch and tossed a motorbike he was immediately overwhelmed by locals, some of whom restrained him while others kicked him
He tried to sneak a midnight swim in just his undies – but was noticed by locals as he tried to get back inside his hotel room.
Unfortunately the hotel’s back gate was locked and as he hurried to the front, he was followed by a growing crowd who started to follow him.
‘Genuinely scared’ and unable to explain himself to locals, who mainly speak Acehnese and seldom English, Mr Risby-Jones panicked.
‘People were starting to make a bit of a scene and then one person came up very close to me and I’m like, ‘go away, I’m just going to the resort’, but they didn’t’ understand me obviously because they don’t speak English. They came up to me very close and I pushed them away,’ he told The Australian.
‘Then they started to get angry. One person came up to grab me so I punched him. There was a motorbike there and, to tell everyone to leave me alone, I threw the motorbike and that’s how Edi Ron got hurt.’
When Mr Risby-Jones threw a punch and shoved Edi Ron off his bike he was immediately overwhelmed by locals, some of whom restrained him while others kicked him.
Edi Ron, a 38-year-old local fisherman and father of six suffered broken bones and a deep wound on his foot in the fall.
Mr Risby-Jones was detained in an Indonesian prison which practices sharia law
Mr Risby-Jones apologised to the fisherman he hurt and to all Indonesians, saying he was ‘very, very sorry for the grief I’ve caused’
He required stitches and two pins in his foot and ongoing medical therapy at Banda Aceh, which can only be reached by a 20 hour boat journey and then a road trip.
Mr Risby-Jones was spared the lengthy jail term by negotiations under Indonesia’s restorative justice system, which focuses on the direct participation of perpetrators, victims and society in the settlement process.
Mr Risby Jones attended a reconciliation meeting last week with Edi Ron and agreed to pay him compensation worth about AU$25,000.
‘Staying in an Indonesian cell for a month is hard for the body and for mental (wellbeing) … but considering everything, I think my health is doing good,’ he told ABC television, while handcuffed and flanked by police.
At the meeting he apologised to Edi Ron and his wife and reportedly handed over brown bags full of cash as part of the settlement.
He also apologised to Indonesians, saying he was ‘very, very sorry for the grief I’ve caused’.
Local authorities in Aceh said the amount agreed on was 250 million rupiah ($A25,000), the ABC reported. The fisherman’s family had originally sought around $A60,000.
In a separate video, under the supervision of Indonesian authorities, Mr Risby-Jones was asked what advice he’d give ‘young Australians’ planning to visit Indonesia.
Mr Risby-Jones was spared the lengthy jail term by negotiations under Indonesia’s restorative justice system
He paid compensation worth about AU$25,000 to the fisherman, Edi Ron, and his family
‘I would say know the rules when you go travel overseas, especially to Aceh in Indonesia, it’s very different to Bali.
‘The laws are very strict and for me, I didn’t know the full laws of, like sharia law, they take things extremely seriously so check up on your laws and know what you’re going to do before you travel somewhere.’
Mr Risby-Jones also said he may write a book about his experiences in Indonesia and may one day return to ‘build a surf resort’.
But he also admitted the experience would take him ‘years’ to recover from.
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