A second woman will be deported from Indonesia over a naked photo with a sacred tree in Bali.
Immigration officials arrested Russian woman Luiza Kosykh in her Bali villa on Wednesday after an old picture emerged online, reportedly to have been taken and originally uploaded two years ago.
Denpasar Immigration head Tedy Riyandi and Barron Ichsan, the head of the Immigration Division of the Bali Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, told local media on Thursday that Ms Kosykh, who was in Bali on an investor visa, would be deported over the act.
It comes after a Russian yogi and social media influencer, Alina Fazleeva, was deported after posing nude against the same sacred 700-year-old Kayu Putih tree and uploading photos online last year.
That incident made international headlines and following public backlash, Ms Fazleeva deleted the images and posted an apology video, which showed her fully clothed and praying at the base of the sacred tree while she stated her “regret”.
Balinese entrepreneur Ni Luh Djelantik, who called on authorities to intervene in Ms Fazleeva’s case last year, shared Ms Kosykh’s photos on Instagram this week.
“To all foreigner(s) who disrespect our land, Bali is our home, not yours!” she wrote.
Ms Djelantik tagged Ms Kosykh in her post. The Russian had described herself as a “spiritual lover, energy giver and healer” on Instagram, but her account has since been deleted.
At a press conference, Mr Ichsan said the 40-year-old had taken and uploaded the picture on April 11, 2021, according to local news site Coconuts Bali.
“We don’t know who highlighted it in 2023,” he said.
Mr Ichsan said she claimed she took the picture with a friend because she wanted to “be at one with nature”.
“She said that in the picture she was wearing panties and that her friend later edited [the photo] to make it [seem like she was] more immersed in nature,” he said.
“If we look at her picture, this is not nude photography that is arousing. Could be different for dirty-minded people. I look at the photo, I see it as art, and not erotic. But yes, [it was taken] at the wrong place. That is a sacred place.”
Ms Kosykh was reported to have apologised to authorities, saying she did not mean to disrespect the people of Bali.
The sacred Kayu Putih tree, also known as the Bayan Ancient Tree, is behind a temple in the village of Bayan in Bali’s Tabanan regency. It is believed to be about 700 years old.
When Ms Fazleeva and her husband were deported last year over her naked photos, Bali immigration chief Jamaruli Manihuruk said the couple had endangered public order.
“They have carried out activities that endangered public order and were disrespectful to the local norms, so they are sanctioned with deportation,” he said at a press conference.
Bali authorities are fed-up with misbehaving foreigners. Most recently, there has been talk of imposing a tax on tourists.
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Bali’s governor has also flagged a proposed ban on tourists using motorbikes and requested Russian and Ukrainian tourists to no longer be allowed to get a visa on arrival in the country. Hotel workers are being instructed to educate foreign guests on what they can and can’t do, and there is an official campaign cracking down on unruly behaviour with large billboards expected to be installed.
In the first three months of the year, 620 foreigners were deported from Indonesia, according to Indonesia’s director general of immigration Silmy Karim.
Violations included misusing visas and residence permits, overstaying, disrupting public order, misbehaving, and not complying with Indonesian regulations.
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