Indonesia denies hampering journalists` work following dismissal of Hong Kong journalists

Gatot Dewabroto.

Spokesman for Communication and Information Ministry Gatot Dewabroto clarified an accusation that Indonesia is hampering journalists` work following the withdrawal of identification cards of nine Hong Kong journalists.

They had shouted at Philippines` President Benigno Aquino III during a session last Sunday (Oct 6).

"It was not a question and answer session; yet the nine journalists were using provocative and excessive behaviour. Our approach towards this incident is firm but humanist at the same time. We were not using force to expel them from the venue; rather, we confiscated their identification cards and escorted them gently to the media centre to take their belongings," said the spokesperson.

He also denied that the APEC organising committee is banning all Hong Kong journalists to cover APEC Leaders Meeting 2013. There are a total of 30 Hong Kong journalists in Bali, and only nine of them had their identification cards withdrawn. The rest are free to cover the event, Gatot added.

Earlier, AFP reported that as Aquino entered a meeting of APEC business leaders on Sunday (Oct 6), the reporters demanded to know whether he would meet Hong Kong`s leader Leung Chun-ying in Bali and apologize to the families of the hostage crisis victims.

Now, the TV footage shows the journalists shouting "So you`re ignoring the Hong Kong people, right?" and "Have you met CY Leung" as they tried to reach for their microphones over Aquino`s entourage.

He did not answer the questions, and APEC`s staff then intervened to admonish the journalists with one accusing the reporter of "ambushing one of our visitors."

Sham Yee-lan, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, said Aquino`s government has "yet to provide a satisfactory explanation" for why the eight Hong Kong citizens died in a botched police rescue and that the journalists in Bali were doing their job.

"The barring of the media for asking critical questions is an outright infringement of press freedom which is totally unacceptable," she said in a statement.

But Aquino`s spokesman Ricky Carandang said the journalists had crossed ethical boundaries.

"As a former journalist, I know what it`s like to aggressively question a subject," he told AFP in Bali.

"These reporters crossed the line from mere questioning to heckling, and were even construed by Indonesian security personnel assigned to the president as a potential threat to him," he said.

Sources