Jakarta, Sep 21 (EFE).- New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens has been freed by Papua rebels 19 months after he was taken hostage, authorities of Indonesia and New Zealand announced Saturday.
Mehrtens was kidnapped by fighters from the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) on Feb. 7 last year after landing a Susi Air plane in the remote Nduga regency. Five local engers were released and the plane was set alight.
A handout photo provided by the TPNPB in March 2023 shows New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens surrounded by Papuan rebels. EFE/HANDOUT/TPNPB
He has since been used as a bargaining chip by the separatists in their independence plight, but to no avail.
Bayu Suseno, director of the Indonesian police operation in charge of the release, said Saturday they “managed to pick up Pilot Philip in good health.”
He was flown from Nduga to Timika, a town in Central Papua’s Mimika regency, where he was undergoing medical and psychological examinations.
Police said its ‘soft approach’ of talks with religious and traditional figures as well as close family of Egianus Kogoya, the commander of the local TPNPB branch that took the pilot hostage, had paid off.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement that “we are pleased and relieved to confirm that Phillip Mehrtens is safe and well and has been able to talk with his family. This news must be an enormous relief for his friends and loved ones.”
He added that a wide range of government agencies had been working with Indonesian authorities and others towards securing Mehrtens’ release since his capture, and requested continued privacy for his family.
Mehrtens’ freedom comes days after the TPNPB released a statement outlining a proposal for his release, detailing a number of conditions to be followed, including for a handover to New Zealand authorities, “open access” for media and “space to convey what [the pilot] felt with the TPNPB troops” during his time in captivity.
The separatists have been promising to release the New Zealander for months.
On the Feb. 7 anniversary of his capture, the TPNPB headquarters announced it would release Mehrtens in a statement that appeared to reveal internal differences between the HQ and the local command holding him.
In early August, as well as early this month, the local command said it would release the pilot.
“We will free him for the sake of humanity,” TPNPB spokesman Sebby Sambom told EFE on Sep. 3.
On several occasions the rebels released videos and photos showing the pilot surrounded by fighters holding weapons and the banned Morning Star flag – a symbol of Papuan independence – including on Nov. 21 when the rebels again demanded Papua’s independence be recognized or else the pilot would be shot dead.
The New Zealand government had demanded his release on various occasions, with Peters saying in February that his “continued detention serves the interests of no one.”
Another New Zealand pilot, 50 year old Glen Conning, was killed last month by an armed group after landing a PT Intan Angkasa Air Service helicopter carrying four engers in Mimika regency, police said at the time.
Papua’s indigenous peoples have been fighting for independence from Indonesia since Jakarta took control of the territory following a controversial referendum backed by the United Nations in 1969.
Rich in natural resources, Papua sits in the east of the western half of the island of New Guinea. EFE
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