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ALIAS · (06-03-2021)

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - A former professional wrestling champion who was imprisoned in Bali on drugs charges was released overnight on Wednesday. Kieran King, 32, a New Zealander who was born in Gisborne but relocated to the United States in 2010, has had all charges overturned in a shock move by the Indonesian government.

King rose to prominence in late 2009 when he joined the X-treme Wrestling Federation, and immediately won their then-annual X-Mas X-Treme tournament, becoming the World Champion. Over the course of the next year, he would gain other accolades including winning both the premier Universal Championship and the Lord of the Ring battle royal. Upon temporary closure of the company towards the end of 2010, King disappeared from the limelight and has not competed in the world of professional wrestling since.

In 2016, news reports emerged of King having been arrested upon arrival in Bali, Indonesia after coming off a flight from Hong Kong, in possession of an unspecified amount of cocaine. He was charged and found guilty of trafficking in a trial that received substantial publicity in both New Zealand and Indonesia, and proved a source of tension between the two nations over the potential sentence. The South-East Asian country is notorious for its harsh penalties, with drug trafficking often resulting in execution via firing squad. King was ultimately sentenced to life in prison, with the Indonesian media criticising their government for curtowing to international pressure.

The trial and sentence of Kieran King was further dramatised by his firing of two separate legal teams and several expletive-laden public statements that King was able to leak to the media. Through those statements, King badmouthed both governments and explicitly stated that he held no remorse for his actions. This only further led to outrage in the Indonesian public, who largely support its government’s strict stance on narcotics.

Prior to his release, King had spent the last five years housed just outside the Balinese capital of Denpassar in Kerobokan Prison, notorious for also being the prison that high-profile Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby was also imprisoned at. Despite requests, no official statement has been made by officials for either government, nor the prison itself, and at the time of print it is unknown whether King will return to New Zealand.

Threaded Mode \| Linear Mode Kieran King Released from Prison
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