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 Mark Mehrtens, a 38-year-old pilot from Christchurch, was working for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air when he was abducted by armed 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,” 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 Mehrtens, wearing a dark-green shirt and black shorts, sitting in a room surrounded by police officers and local officials.
He sobbed while talking to his family via video and was later flown to Jakarta to be reunited with his family on Saturday night.
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.
The Free Papua Movement, initially said the rebels would not release Mehrtens unless Indonesia’s government allowed Papua to become a sovereign country.
Then on Tuesday, leaders of the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement known as TPNPB, issued a proposal for freeing Mehrtens that outlined terms including news media involvement in his release.
Mehrtens' family said in a statement on Sunday that they were "extremely grateful and relieved that Phillip has been released and will soon be reunited with us".
They said they had received messages from the pilot during his captivity.
“Those messages filled our souls and gave us hope and that we would eventually see Phil again.”
NZ Foreign Minister Winston Peters said government agencies had been working with Indonesian authorities and others to secure the release for the past 19 months.
He declined to give details about how the pilot was freed, saying it was a “tricky” environment and building trust had been the most difficult aspect.
“It was quite nerve-wracking, holding our nerve and not getting too carried away, not doing anything that might imperil the chances,” he said.
Indonesia President Joko Widodo congratulated the military and police for prioritising persuasion and safety.
“This was through a very long negotiation process and our patience not to do it repressively," Widodo said.
Mehrtens arrived in Jakarta’s Air Force base Halim Perdanakusumah just before midnight on Saturday.
He was escorted by police and military personnel as he descended the plane’s steps and was greeted by Indonesian officials and New Zealand diplomats on the tarmac.
In August another NZ pilot, Glen Malcolm Conning, was killed by separatist rebels in Papua after landing his helicopter in a remote area,
