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).
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NewsTranscript
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.