Separatist rebels release New Zealand pilot after 19 months captive in Papua

A New Zealand pilot held hostage for more than a year in the restive Papua region of Indonesia has been freed by separatist rebels.

Phillip Mehrtens, a 38-year-old pilot from Christchurch, was working for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air when he was abducted by rebels from a remote airport on February 7 2023.

“Today I finally got out. I am so happy to be back home with my family soon,” Mr Mehrtens told reporters in a news conference in the mining town of Timika. “Thank you to everyone who helped me get out safety and healthy.”

Television news earlier showed an emaciated, long-haired Mr Mehrtens, wearing a dark-green shirt and black shorts, sitting in a room surrounded by police officers and local officials.

Rebels have used violence to try to achieve independence as the security situation deteriorates in Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua, a former Dutch colony in the western part of New Guinea that is ethnically and culturally distinct from much of Indonesia.

Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 under a United Nations-sponsored ballot that was widely seen as a sham. Since then, a low-level insurgency has simmered. The conflict spiked in the past year, with dozens of rebels, security forces and civilians killed.

Mr Mehrtens was handed over to the Cartenz Peace Taskforce, which was set up by the Indonesian government to deal with separatist groups in Papua, after rebels let him walk free early on Saturday, said taskforce spokesperson Bayu Suseno.

“We managed to pick him up in good health,” Mr Suseno said.

Independence fighters led by Egianus Kogoya, a regional commander in the Free Papua Movement, stormed a single-engine plane on a small runway in Paro and abducted Mr Mehrtens on February 7, 2023.

Mr Kogoya initially said the rebels would not release Mr Mehrtens unless Indonesia’s government allows Papua to become a sovereign country.

Leaders of the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement known as TPNPB, said they would let Mr Mehrtens go after a year being held by his captors.

The rebels issued a proposal on Tuesday for freeing Mr Mehrtens that outlined terms including news media involvement in his release.

New Zealand foreign minister Winston Peters said: “We are pleased and relieved to confirm that Phillip Mehrtens is safe and well and has been able to talk with his family,” Mr Peters said in a written statement on Saturday.

“This news must be an enormous relief for his friends and loved ones.”

Mr Peters said a wide range of New Zealand government agencies had been working with Indonesian authorities and others to secure the release for the past 19-and-a-half months.

Many news outlets showed “cooperation and restraint” in reporting the story, he added.

“The case has taken a toll on the Mehrtens family, who have asked for privacy,” Mr Peters said.

“We ask media outlets to respect their wishes and therefore we have no further comment at this stage.”

New Zealand news outlets reported during Mr Mehrtens’ captivity that he was one of a number of expatriate pilots employed by Susi Air and in recent years lived in Bali with his family.

Mr Mehrtens, who was 37 when he was kidnapped, was originally from the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, and trained as a pilot in his home country, according to the news outlets Stuff and the New Zealand Herald.