Russian Influencer Faces Jail For Posing Nude Next To Sacred Tree In Bali

Russian Influencer Faces Jail For Posing Nude Next To Sacred Tree In Bali

The picture, which showed her standing naked on a 700-year-old banyan tree at a temple in Tabanan district, was uploaded to Instagram and went viral, irking Balinese communities.

An Instagram influencer from Russia has landed herself in deep trouble by posing naked next to a 700-year-old sacred tree at a temple in Bali and posting it on her profile. Alina Fazleeva and her husband Andrey Fazleev will be deported from Bali for staging a nude photoshoot on a sacred tree which is in violation of local culture, said officials on the Indonesian holiday island.

Under the country's strict laws, if the Russian influencer is convicted she'll be hit with a hefty fine of 78,000 and face six years in jail, due to the Information and Electronic Transactions Act (ITE).

The influencer has since deleted the photo and issued an apology on Instagram acknowledging that she made a big mistake". I'm so embarrassed, I didn't mean to offend you in any way, absolutely no knowledge of this place," she wrote. There are a lot of sacred places in Bali and not all of them have information signs about it, as in my case," she said. And, it is very important to treat these places and traditions with respect".

The picture, which showed her standing naked on a 700-year-old banyan tree at a temple in Tabanan district, was uploaded to Instagram and went viral, irking Balinese communities.

Mountains, trees and other natural features are considered holy in Balinese Hindu culture, as they are thought to be the homes of the gods.

"Both of them are proven to have carried out activities that endanger public order and do not respect the local norms," Bali immigration chief Jamaruli Manihuruk told reporters Friday.

"So, they will be sanctioned with deportation."

The husband and wife will be banned from Indonesia for at least six months, and also had to participate in a cleansing ceremony at the sacred area in accordance with local belief, he added.

Bali's Governor Wayan Koster said his administration would no longer tolerate disrespectful tourists.

Almost 200 people were deported from the holiday island last year, some of them for violating Covid-19 protocols.

Last month, a Canadian actor and self-proclaimed wellness guru was also facing deportation from Bali after a video went viral of him naked at holy Mount Batur while doing the Haka, New Zealand's Maori ceremonial dance.