In yet another instance of Russian tourists getting in trouble for misbehaving in Bali, three visitors from the former Soviet state were arrested on Monday for dressing and dancing inappropriately at Pengubengan Temple in Karangasem.
The three Russians — consisting of a 35-year-old woman identified by her initials IN, a 37-year-old man identified as SN and a 29-year-old woman identified as ML — were arrested by Immigration officers at a homestay in Ubud on Monday morning.
The head of the Singaraja Immigration Office, Hendra Setiawan, told Detik that the three Russians had violated customary norms by dancing and posing in inappropriate clothes in the temple’s courtyard on Sunday and that their actions had been reported by local villagers.
Seeming to respond to criticism that local law enforcement was not doing enough to respond to reports of misbehaving foreigners, Hendra said, “We do real work, not mere promises. This proves our seriousness in responding to reports from the community.”
After being detained by immigration, the Russians participated in an apology ceremony at Pengubengan Temple yesterday afternoon, led by temple officials.
“When we arrived at Pengubengan Temple, the three Caucasians cried. The people concerned admitted their mistake and begged for forgiveness. They claimed not to know,” Jero Mangku Nyoman Artawan, one of the temple’s officials, told Tribun.
He went on to say that the Russians expressed their apologies to the people of Bali and promised not to take similar actions again. He said they also wanted to help spread awareness about the many sacred places in Bali.
Today, Singaraja Immigration head Hendra announced that 2 of the Russians, SN and IN, would be deported from Indonesia on May 12 and that they would remain in detention until then.
However, he said that the third Russian, ML, would not be deported because she did not know the other two. Hendra explained that SN and IN were a married couple that had invited ML to join them for their visit to the temple.
Explaining exactly what the inappropriate act was that got them in trouble in the first place, Hendra told the media that IN had danced in front of the temple wearing a tank top after removing a shawl that she had worn while entering the temple. He said SN recorded the dance while ML only watched so she was not complicit in the act.
Hendra also mentioned that immigration had formed a foreigner supervision team to oversee the district and respond to reports.
There have been several other recent incidents involving foreigners, including Russians, who have gotten into trouble for acting inappropriately in sacred places. In just the last year, there have been two Russian women that have been deported for being photographed posing naked on a sacred tree. The first one also performed a ceremonial apology after her arrest.
Other reports of misbehaving Russian tourists have been coloring the local news for a while now, including stories of vandalism, and working without legal permits. Furor over the phenomenon has become so intense that Bali Governor Wayan Koster has suggested removing Russian tourists from Indonesia’s list of nationalities eligible for visas on arrival.
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