Fleno, the village chief, said the compensation agreed was 250 million rupiah ($25,000) and the money was handed over in cash to Ron’s wife Ibu Juna at the meeting.

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He said Risby-Jones said at the gathering that he “regretted getting emotional” on the night in which he lashed out, running down the road outside the resort and striking out at people after emerging from his hotel room with no clothes on. He had been drinking earlier that night from a bottle of vodka.

“Ibu Juna asked for prayers so that her husband’s recovery will go well and told Bodhi to come back again to Simeulue, ‘don’t use the incident as a reason not to return to Simeulue’. All of them shook hands,” he said.

The village chief had also previously said that the resort would have to slaughter a goat to restore peace to the community under traditional practices in Aceh. That was subsequently upgraded to a buffalo but he said if there was not enough money for that they would have to sacrifice “a goat at the minimum”.

“I said we also need 30 kilograms of rice and spices and the expenses for cooking it all,” Fleno said. “[Risby-Jones’ lawyer] said I have to calculate how much needed for the ritual and he said he will invite the prosecutor, the police and other local officials. We will do it at the mosque.”

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The Australian’s file had been passed from police to the prosecution office before the agreement was reached on Friday

Agustian Yozahead, head of the general crimes unit at the Simeulue prosecutor’s office, said Risby-Jones would be free to return to Australia if and when the peace deal is approved by regional authorities.

“What happened [on Friday] was the early process of restorative justice. We have 14 days to report the case to the provincial prosecutor’s office and to the attorney-general’s office,” he said.

“They must issue a decision within 14 days whether or not they accept this peace agreement. There are three requirements for having restorative justice: the suspect is not a recidivist, the article applied to the case has a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment and there is a peace deal between both parties.”

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