The Presidential Secretariat has returned the special press identification card of CNN Indonesia TV journalist Diana Valencia after a weekend controversy over its sudden revocation triggered concerns about press freedom.

Deputy for Protocol, Press, and Media at the Presidential Secretariat, Yusuf Permana, handed the card back to Diana on Monday, September 29, 2025, in a meeting also attended by CNN Indonesia chief editor Titin Rosmasari, representatives of the Press Council, and officials from the Presidential Press Bureau.

“The ID has now been returned to Ms. Diana in the presence of her editor-in-chief, Ms. Titin. We also want to ensure that such an incident will not happen again,” Yusuf said at the Presidential Palace.

He clarified that the document in question was not Valencia’s professional press card but a special accreditation issued for covering activities at the Palace. “The bureau does not have the authority to take away a journalist’s professional press ID. What was retrieved was the Palace-specific card,” Yusuf stressed.

The incident unfolded on Saturday evening, September27, 2025 shortly after Diana asked President Prabowo Subianto about reports of mass food poisoning cases linked to the government’s Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program, during his return from an overseas trip at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, East Jakarta.

The Palace press office later sent staff to CNN Indonesia’s newsroom to collect Diana’s special Palace ID, sparking public outcry.

The episode has drawn wider attention to the state of press freedom under the Prabowo administration, with media watchdogs and civil society groups cautioning against any attempts to restrict critical reporting.

On Sunday, the Indonesian Press Council publicly urged the Palace to restore Diana’s access, emphasizing that journalists act under a public mandate as guaranteed by Law No. 40/1999 on the Press.

“We call for immediate reinstatement so that the journalist can resume her duties,” council chair Komaruddin Hidayat said in a statement.

Yusuf acknowledged that the Palace press team had prioritized Monday’s meeting with CNN Indonesia and the Press Council over accompanying the President to a political party congress, underscoring the urgency of resolving the issue.

“The Palace is open. When Ms. Diana and her editor asked to meet, we made time, because this was a priority,” he said.

The restoration of Diana’s credentials comes a day after State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said the government would seek “the best way forward” in resolving the matter through dialogue with media stakeholders.