New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens freed from captivity in Indonesia's Papua

The Star

New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens has been freed more than 19 months after being kidnapped by armed separatists in Indonesia's Papua, authorities said on Saturday (Sept 21).   Read more at https://tinyurl.com/5dfj5vcx  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00New Zealand pilot Philip Mertens is set to fly to Jakarta after being released following

00:06more than 19 months in captivity by armed separatists in Indonesia's Papua.

00:12A senior military official informed the media on Saturday that Mertens was rescued by a

00:17joint team in the Induga region.

00:20He has since undergone medical evaluations, including psychological assessments, in the

00:25Tamika Regency.

00:52The West Papua National Liberation Army TPNPB faction, led by Edgiannis Kogoya, had abducted

00:59Mertens on February 7, 2023, after he landed a small commercial plane in the remote, mountainous

01:07area of Induga.

01:08New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed his release after 592 days in captivity,

01:16acknowledging the efforts of various New Zealand government agencies, which had worked alongside

01:21Indonesian authorities to secure Mertens' freedom.

01:23Well, after 594 days of the capture of him, we've got him free, and I have to say it's

01:33an enormous relief, and his family will be absolutely over the moon, I believe.

01:39And also, we want to thank the media for unusually not saying a thing on the critical months

01:45and months and months of work, so that we, in the end, have been successful.

01:48So he's in Tamika, in Papua right now, but he's off to Jakarta very, very soon to be

01:56reunited with his family.

01:58During Mertens' captivity, New Zealand media reported that he was among several expatriate

02:03pilots employed by Suzie Eyre.

02:06In recent years, he had been residing in Bali with his family.

02:10Mertens, 37 at the time of his abduction, hails from Christchurch, New Zealand, where

02:15he completed his pilot training.

02:17Bambang thanked Indonesian soldiers who have fallen during the mission to secure Mertens'

02:22release, though he did not disclose further details.

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