Despite the authorities having issued passes to Malaysiakini , the portal today was barred from covering the meeting between Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in Putrajaya.

This reporter was told by security officers that even though Malaysiakini has been issued special media passes, the portal is not allowed to enter the PMO “upon higher orders”.

Malaysiakini was issued the media passes last week for the visit by Joko after an official application to the Information Ministry.

The passes were signed by the Head of the Security Officers of the PMO.

The pass tag issued to this reporter is numbered MD0204 and stated “this pass is an official document during the visit and to be worn prominently at all the times”.

It also stated that the pass is valid during the period of visit only.