Aussie surfer Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones returns to Australia after month in Indonesian jail
Aussie tradie surfer who spent a month behind bars after a drunken naked rampage smiles and gives thumbs up as he is deported from Indonesia and heads home
- Aussie on her way home after being deported
- Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones spent a month behind bars
- Says the fisherman he attacked has forgiven him
An Australian tradi who spent a month behind bars after an alleged drunk and naked rampage during a surfing holiday in a conservative Indonesian province is on his way home after being deported.
Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones, 23, had been held in an Indonesian prison cell since late April after being charged by police with drunken assaults on several people in the highly conservative Muslim province of Aceh, including a fisherman who suffered serious leg injuries.
The Tradie from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast was released from prison on Tuesday after going through a recovery process, apologizing for the assault and agreeing to pay compensation to the fisherman.
That enabled him to go to court and face a potential assault charge that could have landed him up to five years in prison.
He spent three nights in an immigrant detention center before being deported on Saturday.
Risby-Jones smiled and gave a thumbs up for the cameras as he was escorted by immigration through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport for his flight home.
Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones (above) of Queensland was released from Indonesian prison on Tuesday after police claimed he was drunk and injured a local fisherman
Police alleged that Risby-Jones (pictured Saturday at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport) was drunk in a province where alcohol is strictly prohibited
“Of course I’m pretty emotional, so I’m going to feel bad about it,” Risby-Jones told reporters at the airport.
He said the fisherman’s family forgave him and told him he was part of their family now.
“I’m welcome to come back and even stay in their house whenever I want,” he said.
“So that guilt is definitely much smaller than it originally was,” he said.
His lawyer Idris Marbawi said the two sides agreed that Risby-Jones would pay the fisherman’s family for hospital expenses and a traditional peace ceremony.
The total payment was 300 million rupiah ($20,000).
The fisherman underwent surgery for broken bones and an infection in his legs in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.
“Risby-Jones is the first foreigner to successfully resolve a case through restorative justice in Aceh province,” Marbawi said.
“He deeply regretted what had happened and vowed to return to Indonesia to surf.”
Footage from his release on Tuesday showed Risby-Jones being escorted to a bus by officers after hugging and saying hello to several prison officers.
After his release, Risby-Jones spent three nights in an immigrant detention center before going home on Saturday.
Authorities said Risby-Jones (above) had come to a peaceful resolution with the injured fisherman through ‘restorative justice’
Authorities said Risby-Jones (pictured before his arrest) vowed to return to Indonesia to surf
“It’s been a long time and I feel great and super happy and grateful,” he said.
“Everyone has been very nice and treated me well. Thank you.’
He also acknowledged the stupidity of his actions.
“I am very, very relieved and happy,” he said.
“I’ve made a fool of myself and it’s been put on public display worldwide.”
Violent acts by foreigners are rare in Aceh, Indonesia’s only Muslim-majority province that applies Sharia law, a concession made by the central government in 2001 as part of efforts to end a decades-long war for independence.
The sale and consumption of alcohol is banned in Aceh, and those found drunk were publicly caned.