BALI, Indonesia, (PNA) — Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ramon Carandang cited on Monday Indonesian security forces for their immediate action against journalists from Hong Kong whom he said “crossed the line” for shouting questions to President Benigno S. Aquino III.
In an interview, Carandang said the Indonesian security forces deemed it fit to have the journalists removed for “rude” behavior in questioning President Aquino as he was about to lead the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit held here on Sunday.
“As a former journalist, I know what it’s like to aggressively question a subject. The behavior of those reporters crossed the line from mere questioning to heckling and was even construed by Indonesian security personnel assigned to the President as a potential physical threat to him so they took what they believe was appropriate action,” Carandang said.
“And you know, we’re all from the same industry. You would know how it is when you ask aggressive questions. There’s a line that can be crossed. And the assessment of the security, which was granted to us by Indonesia was that they were potentially a threat; and so they took the appropriate action,” he added.
After the event, Indonesian authorities revoked the permit of the journalist to cover the event.
Carandang said the President remained “calm” during the commotion.
“The President remained calm throughout. As he was walking into the plenary session with the CEOs, he was accosted very rudely and aggressively by a number of people claiming to be journalists from Hong Kong,” Carandang said.