BALI, Dec 9 — British sex worker Bonnie Blue has been released from police custody in Bali and handed over to immigration officials for interrogation, days after she was arrested in a raid for allegedly filming X-rated material in the country.
While she has been released from her police cell, the 26-year-old whose real name is Tia Billinger is not yet free to go.
According to Australia’s news.com.au, her passport has been confiscated, and she faces a 48-hour interrogation by immigration officials who will decide her fate.
Blue was arrested on Thursday along with 17 male tourists, including 14 Australians, after police raided a holiday rental in Pererenan Village that was allegedly being used as an “obscene video studio.”
Badung Police Chief Arif Batubara said the raid was prompted by public reports.
Officers seized Blue’s now-infamous “bangbus,” several cameras, condoms, sexual enhancement pills, and USB drives.
While the Australian men were released without charge, Blue and three British men remain under investigation.
If prosecuted under Indonesia’s strict anti-pornography laws, Blue faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to IDR6 billion (RM1.5 million)
However, an Indonesian immigration law expert said that deportation is the more likely outcome.
Philo Dellano, a managing partner at a Jakarta law firm, suggested that an “invisible hand” could request she be transferred to immigration and deported rather than face a lengthy and high-profile trial.
A history of controversy
The arrest in Bali is the latest in a string of controversies for Blue.
She was banned from Australia in 2023 after a public outcry over her “barely legal” Schoolies stunt, in which she posted call-outs to underage school leavers holidaying in Bali.
Known for “rage baiting,” she recently taunted Australian authorities, claiming she had found a way around her ban and would be attending this year’s Schoolies event.
It was later revealed that while her branded bus was seen on the Gold Coast, she was not inside it.
