East Kalimantan Governor Apologizes Asprinya Intimidating Journalists

SAMARINDA - East Kalimantan Provincial Governor Rudy Mas'ud apologized for the incident of his personal assistant (aspri) who intimidated reporters in Samarinda City.

"First I apologize because it's outside of my control, because it's spontaneous," said Rudy Mas'ud as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, July 23.

Governor Rudy regretted the incident and emphasized that there was no intention whatsoever to limit the work of journalists.

Rudy emphasized the importance of maintaining good relations between the government and members of the press in East Kalimantan.

So far, our communication with friends from the press has been good. There is no distance, it is precisely this partnership that helps us convey positive information to the wider community," he continued.

He is also committed to guaranteeing press freedom in East Kalimantan and hopes that similar incidents do not happen again.

"Hopefully this will be the last. We will strengthen this good relationship again and ensure that press freedom remains enforced in East Kalimantan," hoped Rudy Mas'ud.

Based on information, it was suspected that the intimidation against journalists occurred in two incidents.

The first incident occurred on Saturday, July 19, at the Regional Conference (Musda) of the Golkar Party, East Kalimantan.

At that time, a number of journalists were interviewing Rudy Mas'ud after being re-elected as Chairman of Golkar Kaltim, but a well-built male aide approached reporters and asked them to stop interviews with intimidating gestures, even touching the journalist's physicality.

The second incident took place on Monday, July 21, when a woman suspected of being a personal assistant showed an intimidating verbal attitude during the doorstop session.

"The journalist who asked Rudy Mas'ud a question was clearly marked with a high-pitched sentence, 'Mas, from yesterday it's like this, I'll mark this one,' said the female aspri while watching her.

After the session ended, the reporters were again approached by two aides and asked for an identity, the incident went viral on a number of social media.