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Komnas HAM condemns rebel threat to shoot New Zealand pilot
Pilot Phillip Mehrtens, who works for frontier airline Susi Air, was abducted by the TPNPB-OPM on Feb. 7 after landing at an airstrip in Nduga regency, Papua.
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New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens reads a statement prepared by a group of separatists in Papua on March 10, 2023. (The Jakarta Post/Twitter)
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has condemned the West Papua National Liberation Army - Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM) for threatening to shoot New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens, saying that it would provoke the Indonesian government to heighten its security approach and lead to a deterioration in the situation in Papua.
In a video statement released by the rebel group on Saturday morning, Mehrtens, surrounded by rebel fighters, said that the group wanted countries other than Indonesia to engage in dialogue on Papuan independence.
“If it does not happen within two months then they say they will shoot me,” Mehrtens says in the video, shared by the Papuan rebel spokesperson Sebby Sambom on Saturday.
The pilot, who works for frontier airline Susi Air, was abducted by the TPNPB-OPM on Feb. 7 after landing at an airstrip in Nduga regency, Papua.
It is not the first time that the TPNPB-OPM has used Mehrtens as a mouthpiece since taking him captive. In a video statement in March, Mehrtens said that his captors demanded the United Nations mediate between Papua and Indonesia to work toward Papuan independence.
Komnas HAM chairperson Atnike Nova Sigiro said that the commission condemned the TPNPB-OPM for taking Mehrtens hostage and for threatening to kill him.
