Australian surfer Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones, arrested in Indonesia’s Aceh province, says drunken rampage was misunderstanding

Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones reveals the tale of a missed flight, a vodka shot, a swim in his underwear and the fight that led to his arrest | WATCH

Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones inside the state prison on Simeulue island Aceh. His family has paid $25,000 to local man Edi Ron, the alleged victim of the 23-year-old Queenslanders' drunken rampage last month.

Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones has revealed the tale of a missed flight home, a vodka shot, a swim in his underwear and the fight that led to his arrest in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province five weeks ago.

In a state prison on Aceh’s Simeulue Island, the 23-year-old Queenslander – sporting a new haircut and high hopes of a return to Australia this week – is telling the story for the first time exclusively to The Australian.

Accused of staging a “naked, drunken and violent rampage” through the streets of an island ­renowned for its surf breaks, Risby-Jones faced up to five years in jail for assault until his lawyer ­finalised a $25,000 compensation agreement last Friday with his victim under Indonesia’s restorative justice system.

But the young mechanic has his own version to tell, one he hopes will serve as a lesson for all foreigners who come after him.

Risby-Jones couldn’t sleep. He had been on Simeulue in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province just two days but had been so caught up on the island’s legendary surf breaks he missed his flight out with friends.

Anxious and alone, unsure how he would get off the remote island – which has a flight out only every few days, or a 17-hour ferry ride to the mainland – he had a single vodka shot back at the Moon Beach resort where he was staying before dinner and bed.

But with his “mind racing”, Risby-Jones got up again just before midnight. He walked down to the beach through the resort’s back gate, stripped down to his underwear and went for a five-minute night swim.

It was a decision that would cost him at least five weeks of freedom, more than $25,000 and international notoriety.

“I thought because it was late at night, no one would be around me,” he said on Monday. “But when I came back to the beach people were looking at me and I felt a bit weird … because I thought I was doing nothing wrong.

“They came up to me and were talking but I didn’t understand what they were saying. I told them, ‘I’m going back to the resort now’, but they didn’t understand what I was saying so I grabbed my clothes to go back to the resort, but the (resort’s) back gate was locked.”

Unnerved by the growing crowd, and unaware that Aceh is a deeply conservative Islamic province, Risby-Jones hurried to the front of the resort – without first stopping to put on clothes – only to find more people staring at him in his underwear.

“People were starting to make a bit of a scene and then one person came up very close to me and I’m like, ‘go away, I’m just going to the resort’, but they didn’t’ understand me obviously because they don’t speak English. They came up to me very close and I pushed them away,” he told The Australian.

“Then they started to get angry. One person came up to grab me so I punched him. There was a ­motorbike there and, to tell everyone to leave me alone, I threw the motorbike and that’s how Edi Ron got hurt.”

“I was just scared and anxious. I was genuinely scared.”

The enraged crowd pounced, tackling him to the ground and repeatedly kicking him. It took resort staff to break up the mob while authorities dragged Risby-Jones to the local police lockup.

Edi Ron, a 38-year-old local fisherman and father-of-six, lay bleeding in the gutter, waiting for someone in the angry crowd to notice his injuries.

In the weeks since, he has undergone several surgical procedures in the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh — a 20 hour boat and road trip away — for a deep, infected wound in his foot and broken bones that require two pins and months of medical therapy.

His family is relieved the issue has been settled out of court under Indonesia’s restorative justice system which allows the families of victim and perpetrator to mediate a settlement.

At least now they have money for the necessary surgery that had been delayed for fear they could not afford the medical bills.

They have forgiven the young Australian who confesses to being amazed they should now consider him part of the family.

“When I met Edi Ron and his wife it was very sincere and real,” Risby-Jones told The Australian.

“It took a long time to make an agreement, but in the end it was mutually good. They accepted my apologies and we embraced. I shook their hands and we shared a hug and words.”

He says he deeply regrets the injuries he inflicted on Mr Ron and wishes him a speedy recovery.

Edi Ron at Meuraxa General Hospital, Banda Aceh. Picture: Gomos Simanjuntak

The hardest part of the past five weeks has been not knowing what would happen next, and whether he would have to spend years in an Indonesian prison, as other young Australians have done before him.

Sleep has also been elusive in the bare police cell in which he was held before his transfer to the state prison. He has used that time to take notes and plans to write a book about his experience which he says “will be a big story to tell”.

He needs to find a way to reimburse the $25,000 his extended Queensland farming family which together raised the money to get him back.

While the Risby-Jones family issued a public statement after Bodhi’s arrest last month expressing their deep disappointment at his behaviour, and apologising to his victim and Aceh authorities, he says he is not worried about their reaction on his return.

“I’m very lucky in Australia because I have a good circle around me that’s very caring. I think when I do get back home it will be a very huge relief for them.

“I know I’m very fortunate that I have been able to reconcile and make a peace agreement. God forbid, if I had to spend years in prison here _ it would destroy my whole life.”

He has tried to make the “best out of the worst situation” and says he hopes others learn from his mistakes and read up on their travel destinations before they leave home.

Whether he will return to Aceh or Indonesia, however _ a “beautiful country” with “great surf and good people” _ is a question that could take years to answer.

“Maybe one day I will come back here and build a surf resort,” he muses. “I would like to come back, but it is going to take me years to recover.”