Separatist rebels release New Zealand pilot after 19 months in Indonesia's Papua region

Indonesian authorities said on Saturday that a New Zealand pilot who had been held hostage for more than a year by separatist rebels in the Papua region has been released. The pilot, named Phillip Mark Mehrtens, is from Christchurch and was employed by Indonesian aviation company Susi Air.

Bayu Suseno, a spokesperson for the Cartenz Peace Task Force, a joint security force established by the Indonesian government to address Papuan separatist groups, stated that Mehrtens was released by the separatist rebels earlier on Saturday and handed over to the task force. "We have successfully secured him, and he is in good health," Suseno said, adding that Mehrtens had been taken to the mining town of Timika for further health checks.

On February 7, 2023, independent fighters led by Egianus Kogoya, a regional commander of the Free Papua Movement, attacked a single-engine plane on a small airstrip in Paro and kidnapped Mehrtens. Kogoya initially stated that the rebels would not release Mehrtens unless the Indonesian government allowed Papua to become a sovereign nation.

Leaders of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, said they would release Mehrtens after he had been held captive for a year. The rebels made an offer to release Mehrtens on Tuesday, outlining terms that included the involvement of news media in the release. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed Mehrtens' release after he had been held captive for 592 days.

“We are delighted and relieved to confirm that Phillip Mehrtens is safe and well and has been able to speak with his family. This news will be an enormous comfort to his friends and loved ones,” Peters said in a written statement on Saturday. Peters stated that various agencies of the New Zealand government had been working with Indonesian authorities and others over the past 19 and a half months to secure Mehrtens' release. Officials are also supporting Mehrtens' family.

He also added that many news media outlets had shown "cooperation and restraint" in their reporting of the incident. "This case has had an impact on the Mehrtens family, and they have asked for privacy. We ask the media to respect their wishes, so we will not be making further comment at this time," Peters said.

New Zealand news media reported during Mehrtens' captivity that he was one of a number of foreign pilots employed by Susi Air and had been living in Bali with his family in recent years. According to news outlets Stuff and the New Zealand Herald, Mehrtens was 37 years old when he was kidnapped, was from Christchurch, New Zealand, and had trained as a pilot in his hometown.