March 29 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Indonesian authorities have ordered the deportation of a Russian tourist who posed with his pants down for a photograph on top of Mount Agung, Bali’s highest and considered sacred, despite publicly apologizing for the image.
“He violated the rules and showed no respect for our culture,” said the head of the Bali Human Rights office, Anggiat Napitupulu, in statements to ‘The Jakarta Post’, after the image of the tourist, identified as Yuri , came to light last week.
Since Monday, Yuri has been held in an immigration office awaiting his deportation, which will come “once the paperwork has been completed.” His gesture will cost him not only expulsion from the country but also the prohibition to return for at least six months.
The Bali authorities already have in mind limiting tourist access to the island’s mountains, due to the effects it implies for a nature that the local community considers sacred. The governor, Wayan Koster, has promised to follow the guidelines set by local religious leaders.
In fact, the incident with the Russian tourist is not unique, because in 2022 a Canadian actor was already expelled after dancing naked on Mount Batur and, a year earlier, the community in the area protested after the dissemination of a video in which a Russian couple had sex.
