Denpasar. Police in Bali have named a Swiss national as a suspect over an alleged insult to the Hindu Day of Silence, Nyepi, after a social media post triggered public backlash.

The Bali Police’s Cybercrime Directorate said Luzian Andrin Zgraggen was identified following an investigation into a viral Instagram post deemed offensive to the religious holiday, which is widely observed across the island.

A police spokesperson, Ariasandy, said officers from the cyber unit detected the post on March 20 during routine online patrols. The content, uploaded on the account @luzzysun, allegedly contained language insulting Nyepi, a sacred day in Balinese Hinduism marked by silence, fasting and meditation.

“Officers found an upload containing statements with an insulting tone toward Nyepi,” Ariasandy said in Denpasar on Monday.

Authorities traced the account to Zgraggen, a Swiss citizen, through digital profiling. Police then tracked his movements from Kuta to Ubud, before locating him later that evening at a residence in Tumbak Bayuh, Badung regency.

Zgraggen was arrested and taken to the Bali Police headquarters for questioning. The arrest followed a request from Indonesian designer and activist Ni Luh Djelantik, at whose residence the suspect was found.

A formal complaint was filed the following day, March 21, at 11:30 a.m., prompting police to escalate the case to a full investigation. Zgraggen was officially named a suspect later that afternoon after investigators conducted a case review.

He was questioned in the evening and subsequently detained at the Bali Police detention facility late that night.

Police said the suspect has been charged under Article 301(1) of Indonesia’s 2023 Criminal Code for disseminating content that incites hatred based on religion through electronic means.

Investigators said the legal elements of the charge have been met, citing the suspect’s status as a legal subject, the use of social media to distribute the content, and the nature of the message, which authorities claimed to contain hate speech targeting a religious group.

The case remains under investigation. Police have issued a notice of investigation commencement to prosecutors, seized a mobile phone believed to have been used to post the content, and are questioning additional witnesses to strengthen the case.

Nyepi is one of Bali’s most important observances, during which the island shuts down entirely for 24 hours, including its airport, as residents refrain from travel, work, and entertainment. 

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