Young Aussie could be whipped and jailed after a drunken night out in Indonesia that made locals so angry they threatened to burn down his hotel
- Noosa man accused of alcohol-fulled rampage
- Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones holidaying in Indonesia
- He is accused of striking a local motorbike rider
- The 22-year-old now faces five years behind bars
An Australian man has been arrested in an ultra-conservative Indonesian province where sharia law is enforced accused of an alcohol-fuelled, naked rampage.
Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones, 22, is facing up to five years behind bars after he was detained on the island of Simeulue, off the coast of Sumatra, on Thursday morning.
Police allege the 22-year-old had been drinking vodka before he emerged from his room at the Moon Beach Resort without any clothes on just after midnight.
Simeulue police chief Senior Commissioner Jatmiko alleged Risby-Jones hit a security guard in the neck, causing him to fall to the ground, as he left the hotel.
‘He got out of his room naked. The security man attempted to stop him but got hit at the neck and fell down,’ Jatmiko told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘He then went on to the street and disturbed passers-by. He hit almost everyone who was on the street.’
Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones, 22, is facing up to five years behind bars after he was detained by police on the island of Simeulue, off the coast of Sumatra, accused of a drunken rampage
The police chief alleged the 22-year-old struck a local as the man passed on a motorbike and threw the bike on top of him after he landed in the gutter.
He said the lower part of the rider’s leg was ripped open and required 50 stitches, with police becoming involved after his wife filed a report.
Risby-Jones, originally from Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, is now facing a charge under Article 351 of the Indonesian penal code.
The charge for maltreatment resulting in serious physical injury carries a maximum sentence of five years behind bars.
Sharia law is enforced in Aceh, where the sale and consumption of alcohol is forbidden and public canings still occur for morality offences.
People who visit and live in the province can be lashed for drinking alcohol, homosexuality, engaging in pre-martial sex, and acts of adultery.
Simeulue police chief Senior Commissioner Jatmiko said Risby-Jones (pictured) had hit a security guard in the neck after he tried to stop him from leaving the hotel
As the report submitted to police by the motorcyclist’s wife was about violence and not alcohol, Risby-Jones will not be investigated under Islamic law.
However, police have warned they may still investigate the alcohol claims, and if they do, sharia law may be applied.
Senior Commissioner Jatmiko said locals became so enraged after hearing about the injured motorcyclist they threatened to set fire to the 22-year-old’s hotel.
‘Knowing it, the people got angry and almost put the resort on fire. Luckily, local police and the village head managed to calm down the mob,’ he said.
Sharia law is enforced in Aceh, where the sale and consumption of alcohol is forbidden and public canings still occur for morality offences (pictured, a man is caned in Aceh in May, 2017)
Exceptions to the alcohol ban in Aceh can be made for tourists who choose to drink in private, the police chief explained.
He said police had allowed Risby-Jones to bring in one bottle of alcohol, saying officers had a right to check luggage at the airport due to Sharia law.
The Noosa man told police he had come to the island of Simeulue with a mate as part of a three-week surfing holiday in Indonesia.
Three Indonesian men were given 40 strokes of the cane each after they were accuse of drinking in the ultra-conservative province in 2021.