Year in jail for tourist who wouldn't shut up on Bali's Day of Silence

The Day of Silence is a sacred Balinese Hindu observance, and tourists are expected to honor it too. Luzian Andrin Zgraggen not only failed in this obligation, but insulted it, an infraction that now lands him in an Indonesian jail for a year.

The Denpasar District Court determined that he posted the messages even after staff at the villa where he was staying informed him of the restrictions.

"What the defendant did offended the Balinese people, hurt their faith and provoked public outrage," said presiding judge Tjokorda Putra Budi Pastima. "The defendant must be held accountable for his actions."

A lot doesn't happen during Nyepi, as it is known in Balinese, and the authorities have special police details to make sure it doesn't. The beaches are empty, the airport closed for the day, and even "the internet" is reportedly turned off (though presumably cellular data is still being routed, given Zgraggen's postings.)

In video clips shared online, Zgraggen smiled at the camera and described walking to a beach during the observance. In one, he called the tradition "crazy" and used an expletive.

In his defense, Zgraggen said that he was hungry and frustrated at not being able to obtain food during the holiday.