Balinese musician Jerinx was released from Kerobokan prison this morning after having served his controversial conviction for hate speech.
Jerinx, whose real name is I Gede Ari Astina, was sentenced to 14 months in prison last November for hate speech, but had his sentence reduced to 10 months following an appeal. The 43-year-old had been detained since August.
Also popularly known as JRX, the drummer of Superman Is Dead took to Instagram to share his freedom with his one million followers, where he posted a picture with his wife, influencer Nora Alexandra.
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The musician’s legion of fans have also been celebrating his freedom on social media over the past few days, trending the hashtags #WelcomeHomeJRXSID and #KamiBersamaJRX (we are with JRX).
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Stories from Nora’s Instagram show that the couple immediately went for a Balinese cleansing ritual, locally known as melukat, right after she picked him up from prison.
The media crowded Kerobokan this morning to report on Jerinx’s release, though he did not provide any statement to the press.
“For the time being, Jerinx will not be speaking to the media,” Wayan Gendo Suardana, Jerinx’s legal representative, told the media following his release, adding that the controversial figure will talk to the press at a later time.
Jerinx’s case has been a source of controversy across Indonesia since last June, when he accused the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) of being “flunkeys” to the World Health Organization (WHO) on an Instagram post out of his frustration that pregnant women were required to undergo unreliable rapid tests for COVID-19 prior to delivery.
Compounding the issue was that Jerinx’s vocal rejection against rapid tests coincided with his active sharing and endorsement of COVID-19-related conspiracy theories on social media, including calls for people to stop wearing masks during the pandemic.
