By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JAKARTA (Worthy News) – Phillip Mark Mehrtens, the New Zealand pilot who’s been held hostage for more than a year in the troubled Papua region, has been freed by separatist rebels, Indonesian authorities confirmed Saturday.
Mehrtens, from New Zealand’s Christchurch, who flew for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air, was handed over early Saturday to the Cartenz Peace Taskforce, the joint security force set up by the Indonesian government to deal with separatist groups in Papua.
The task force spokesperson Bayu Suseno said separatist rebels let him walk free early Saturday.
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 Mehrtens on Feb. 7, 2023.
Kogoya initially said the rebels would not release the pilot unless Indonesia’s government allowed Papua to become a sovereign country.
However, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed Mehrtens’ release after 592 days in captivity.
TALKING WITH FAMILY
“We are pleased and relieved to confirm that Phillip Mehrtens is safe and well and has been able to talk with his family,” Peters said in a statement Saturday. “This news must be an enormous relief for his friends and loved ones.”
Peters added that a wide range of New Zealand government agencies had been working with Indonesian authorities and others to secure the release for the past 19 1/2 months.
Officials were also supporting Mehrtens’ family, Peters said.
He added that many news outlets showed “cooperation and restraint” when reporting the story.
“The case has taken a toll on the Mehrtens family, who have asked for privacy,” Peters stressed. “We ask media outlets to respect their wishes, and therefore, we have no further comment at this stage.”
Aged 37 when he was kidnapped, Mehrtens was one of several expatriate pilots employed by Susi Air and, in recent years, lived in Bali with his family.
ANOTHER PILOT KILLED
His release came shortly after the rebels in Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua last month killed a helicopter pilot from New Zealand, police said, adding that four passengers onboard the aircraft were safe.
Glen Malcolm Conning, a pilot for Indonesian aviation company PT Intan Angkasa Air Service, was shot to death, said Faizal Ramadhani, a national police member and head of the joint security peace force in Papua at the time.
The gunmen were allegedly with the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, Ramadhani added.
Conning was shot after landing in Alama, a remote village in central Papua province. Ramadhani said the gunmen released the Indigenous Papuan passengers and set fire to the aircraft.
His death added to pressure on negotiators to discuss Mehrten’s release.
Mehrtens was picked up by authorities in Nduga regency, and Indonesian police said he was undergoing health checkups and a physiological examination in Timika regency.
Peters said, “This news must be an enormous relief for his friends and loved ones.”
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has met victims’ families and survivors of Australia’s worst-ever terrorist and antisemitic attack that killed more than a dozen people, amid mounting tensions between the two nations.
Efforts to dismantle Hamas’ military infrastructure in Gaza are moving forward according to plan, despite tensions surrounding the ceasefire, a senior official involved in U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace initiative told Ynet in an exclusive report Wednesday.
As diplomatic talks continue between Washington and Tehran, new reports from inside Iran describe intensifying repression and widespread fear among ordinary citizens.
U.S. President Donald Trump met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House for nearly three hours Wednesday, with both leaders confirming that negotiations with Iran remain ongoing but no final agreement has been reached.
The Pentagon has instructed a second aircraft carrier strike group to prepare for potential deployment to the Middle East as the United States increases military readiness in response to rising tensions with Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Authorities in the U.S. state of Arizona detained a suspect Tuesday in connection with the reported abduction of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of American television host Savannah Guthrie, as the high-profile investigation entered its ninth day.
Nine people were killed Tuesday in a mass shooting in the western Canadian province of British Columbia, and at least 27 others were injured, authorities confirmed late Tuesday, marking one of the deadliest attacks in Canada in recent years.