Council requests palace to restore CNN Journalists' reporting access

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Press Council has called on the Palace, or the Press, Media, and Information Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat (BPMI Setpres), to restore the reporting access of a CNN Indonesia journalist.

“The Press Council requests that the revoked reporting access of the CNN Indonesia journalist be immediately restored, so that the journalist can resume their journalistic duties at the Palace,” Press Council Chairman Komaruddin Hidayat said in a statement in Jakarta on Sunday.

Furthermore, he urged BPMI Setpres to provide an explanation regarding the revocation of the journalist’s Palace press card to ensure it does not hinder the execution of journalistic duties within the Palace environment.

“The Press Council calls on all parties to respect the duties and functions of the press, which carries a public mandate as regulated under Law Number 40 of 1999 concerning the Press,” he added.

Meanwhile, he expressed hope that incidents like those experienced by the CNN Indonesia journalist would not recur in the future in order to maintain a healthy climate of press freedom in Indonesia.

Previously, during a spontaneous interview session, a CNN Indonesia TV journalist asked President Prabowo Subianto about the Free Nutritious Meal program.

“Is there any special instruction regarding the Free Nutritious Meal program, Sir?” the journalist asked President Prabowo at the TNI Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, Jakarta, on Saturday (September 27).

President Prabowo responded by saying he would summon the Head of the National Nutrition Agency, Dadan Hindayana.

Following this, a screenshot circulated on social media showing the journalist stating that they were no longer a Palace journalist because their Palace press card had been revoked by BPMI Setpres.

CNN Indonesia Editor-in-Chief Titin Rosmasari confirmed in a statement in Jakarta on Sunday that BPMI Setpres had indeed taken back the Palace press card belonging to their journalist.