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Police dispatch local team to negotiate New Zealand pilot's release
The Papua Police chief has said that a negotiation team was en route to secure the release of the New Zealand national who has been held hostage since last Tuesday.
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Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Mathius D. Fakhiri (left) speaks to reporters in Mimika, Papua on Feb. 14, 2023 about an operation to secure the release New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens. (The Jakarta Post/Antara )
T
he Papua Police said on Wednesday it had sent a team to negotiate the release ofNew Zealand national Phillip Mehrtens, a Susi Air pilot who was being held hostage by an armed separatist group in the restive province.
On Tuesday, Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Matthius D. Fakhiri said the team consisted of local politicians, and that he expected the team to make contact soon with the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) in the remote district of Paro in Nduga regency.
"The team, consisting of the [Nduga] regent and several members of the local legislative council, is on the way and there will be communication soon," Matthius said in a video released by state-run news agency Antara.
The police chief also claimed that the Papua Police had managed to track down the location where Mehrtens was being held, especially after the separatist group released photos of the pilot allegedly taken by its members.
"We want everyone to pray that we can finish the job without causing another incident, [that] we can get the pilot released and everything goes back to normal," Matthius said.
Mehrtens was abducted by fighters from the TPNPB last Tuesday after landing a plane operated by Susi Air in Nduga.
TPNPB spokesman Sebby Sambom sent The Jakarta Post video footage and photographs of a man wearing a denim jacket and surrounded by a group of around a dozen men, some armed with guns and bows and arrows.
"The Papuan military that has taken me captive to fight for Papuan independence, they ask for the Indonesian military to go home to Indonesia and if not, I will remain captive for my life," Mehrtens says in the video.
