The office of Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto on Monday restored access for a CNN Indonesia journalist, Diana Valencia. It had earlier revoked Valencia’s pass after she had asked the leader about a troubled free meal programme, sparking concerns about press freedom.
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CNN Indonesia editor-in-chief Titin Rosmasari met the Indonesian palace and confirmed Valencia’s access had been restored, CNN Indonesia reported. The palace had apologised for the revocation and said it would not be repeated, it added.
Indonesia’s main press council had on Sunday said the palace should explain its reasoning and restore the reporter’s access, calling for the protection of press freedom.
Titin said earlier on Monday the reporter’s credentials were revoked on Saturday night. She said the incident took place at about 7.15pm on Saturday, when an officer from the Press, Media and Information Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat collected the card directly from CNN Indonesia’s office.
The revocation was related to the reporter’s question about thousands of schoolchildren who fell sick after consuming food served in the free meal programme, Titin told magazine Tempo.
Valencia asked Prabowo on Saturday whether he had instructions for the National Nutrition Agency overseeing the programme, news footage shows.