A Swiss tourist has been sentenced to a year in prison in Bali after posting videos that insulted the sacred Hindu holiday of Nyepi.
Luzian Andrin Zgraggen, 26, a construction worker from Switzerland, received the sentence on August 20 following a trial that began in June. He had arrived in Bali on February 10 for a vacation and was staying at a hotel where staff had explained the Nyepi restrictions before the Day of Silence in March, according to court documents.
On March 19, during the 24-hour period of silence, Zgraggen filmed himself walking to an empty beach and posted the video to social media. In one video, he walked in the dark with a caption describing the scene as “pretty peaceful outside,” followed by an expletive about the rules around the religious holiday. Prosecutors alleged that he had become frustrated about being unable to leave his hotel to find food and “displayed his anger” on social media.
After his posts drew hundreds of negative comments, Zgraggen deleted them. However, they had already been screen-recorded and shared across other platforms. He then re-uploaded the video with the caption: “They want smoke,” slang for a fight or argument, according to the indictment.
He was arrested after reaching out to a senator in the Indonesian Regional Representative Council to apologize.
During his trial, Zgraggen maintained that he did not understand the full extent of the Nyepi restrictions and insisted he had not intended to insult the Balinese people. “I deeply regret what I did, I apologise to the Balinese people,” he said in court, as reported.
Presiding judge Tjokorda Putra Budi Pastima was unmoved by the expression of remorse. “What the defendant did offended the Balinese people, hurt their faith and provoked public outrage,” the judge stated. “The defendant must be held accountable for his actions.”
The sentence underscores the strict enforcement of Nyepi observance on the Indonesian island, where the holiday brings all activity to a complete halt for 24 hours.
In the viral moment that triggered the case, Zgraggen had described the empty beach scene during the mandatory day of reflection as “crazy” in his now-deleted social media video. The footage showed him violating core tenets of the holiday: remaining indoors, keeping lights dim, minimizing noise, and engaging in quiet meditation. During Nyepi, Bali’s airport shuts down, internet access is restricted, and all entertainment events and non-essential electricity use cease. The holiday marks the Saka New Year following the new moon in March and is intended as a time for reflection, meditation, and self-purification for both locals and tourists.
Zgraggen is not the first foreign visitor to face consequences for violating Nyepi rules, as previous tourists have been detained or deported for similar infractions.