Phillip Mark Mehrtens has been held captive for about a week. West Papua National Liberation Army militiamen burned his plane. The other passengers were released because they were of local origin. The flight had been organized to rescue some workers in charge of building a health center who had received death threats.
Jayapura ( / Agencies) – Separatist rebels in the Indonesian province of Papua have released photos and videos of the New Zealand pilot taken hostage last week. Phillip Mark Mehrtens, of the Susi Air company and originally from Christchurch, was kidnapped by fighters from the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, which is demanding the independence of the province from the rest of Indonesia.
When it landed in Paro, in the Nduja district, the rebels, led by a 24-year-old militant, Egianus Kogoya, attacked the aircraft, seizing Mehrtens and releasing the other five passengers who were indigenous Papuans, he says. the rebel spokesman, Sebby Sambom.
Sambom sent photos and video to the Associated Press yesterday showing a group of gunmen led by Kogoya setting the plane on fire on the runway. Filming continues with the rebel leader sitting in the cockpit of the same plane claiming that he has taken the pilot hostage as part of his fight “to liberate Papua” from Indonesia. “I took him hostage for the independence of Papua, not to get food or drink,” says Kogoya, as a man, identified as Mehrtens, stands next to him. “It will be safe with me until Indonesia stops using its weapons, whether from the air or from the ground.”
So far the New Zealand government has made very little statement about the incident. However, Mathius Fakhiri, the police chief of Jayapura, the provincial capital, told reporters that local authorities were trying to obtain the pilot’s release by involving various community leaders, both tribal and religious, to establish communication and negotiate with the rebels.
The flight to Paro, located in a mountainous area difficult to access by other means, had been organized to evacuate a group of 15 workers in charge of the construction of a health center. They had received death threats from the West Papua National Liberation Army and took refuge in a priest’s house while waiting for help, which arrived on 8 February.
Papua is located in the western part of the island of New Guinea; Indonesia annexed it in 1969 after a controversial referendum. Since then, a low-intensity armed insurgency by Papuan separatist rebels against Indonesian law enforcement has continued. In 2021, confrontations increased by nearly 80% compared to 2020.
Mohammad Mahfud, Minister for Coordination of Political, Security and Legal Affairs, stated that “Papua will always remain a legitimate part of the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia.” Mahfud then explained that the government is making every effort to convince the rebels to release Mehrtens, adding that persuasion is the best method to ensure the hostage’s safety, although “the government does not rule out other actions.”
