TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsPalace urged to uphold press freedom after journalist’s access restored
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Global goodwill: President Prabowo Subianto (center), accompanied by Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka (third left), Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya (left) and several other
Red and White cabinet members, responds questions raised by journalists in a press conference shortly after he arrives at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in Jakarta on Saturday. Prabowo returned home after attending the United Nations General As- sembly in New York and making state visits to Japan, Canada, and the Netherlands. (Antara/Galih Pradipta)
T
he Presidential Palace has faced mounting criticism from journalist groups and rights organizations after briefly revoking a reporter’s credentials over questions about the government’s free nutritious meal program, linked to thousands of food poisoning cases nationwide, raising concerns about press freedom in Indonesia.
Diana Valencia, a CNN Indonesia journalist, had her Palace press pool access revoked on Saturday by the Palace’s Press Bureau (BPMI) following a doorstop interview with President Prabowo Subianto at Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport in East Jakarta.
The President had just returned from a week-long international trip, including his debut at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he pushed for a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel and declared readiness to establish official diplomatic ties with Israel should Palestine gain independence.
During Saturday’s interview, Diana asked whether Prabowo had plans to address the poisoning cases linked to his flagship free meals program, to which he replied that he had just returned from a seven-day working trip and would promptly summon the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to discuss the matter.
“This is quite a big program, so there must be shortcomings at the start, but I am sure this [problem] will be handled carefully. Stay alert, don’t let this issue be politicized,” he said. The program, introduced earlier this year to address the country’s perceived high rate of stunting, has sparked public outcry after more than 8,000 children were reported poisoned and required treatment in hospitals.
Read also: Riau Islands to evaluate free meals program after glass shards found in students’ food
Later that day, Diana announced via a messaging app that her access to the Palace had been revoked because she was “thought to have asked questions outside the context of the event.”
