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Search resuls for: "Kogoya"


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New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens has been freed more than 19 months in Indonesia’s Papua, authorities said on Saturday. Indonesia’s Metro TV showed him tearfully speaking to his family by phone. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said, “We are pleased and relieved to confirm that Phillip Mehrtens is safe and well and has been able to talk with his family. This news must be an enormous relief for his friends and loved ones.”A range of New Zealand government agencies had been working with Indonesian authorities and others towards securing Mehrtens’ release, Peters said in a statement. Another New Zealand pilot, Glen Malcolm Conning, was killed by separatist rebels in Papua in August after landing his helicopter in a remote area, authorities said at the time.
Persons: Phillip Mehrtens, Mehrtens, Egianus Kogoya, Joko Widodo, Winston Peters, , Peters, General Faizal Ramadhani, Egianus Kogoya’s, Glen Malcolm Organizations: Zealand, Metro TV, West Papua National Liberation Army, New Zealand Foreign, Mehrtens, New Locations: Indonesia’s Papua, Timika, Nduga, New Zealand, Papua
West Papua, Indonesia — New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens has been freed from more than 18 months in captivity in Indonesia’s Papua, the Indonesian police said in a statement on Saturday. An armed faction of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), led by Egianus Kogoya, kidnapped Mehrtens on Feb. 7, 2023, after he landed a small commercial plane in the remote, mountainous area of Nduga. “We are prioritising approach through religious leaders, church leaders, traditional leaders and Egianus Kogoya’s close family to minimise casualties and maintain the safety of the pilot,” said the chief of Cartenz 2024 Peace Operations, Brigadier General Faizal Ramadhani. Mehrtens was freed and picked up by a joint team in Nduga Regency and is undergoing health check-ups and a physiological examination in Timika regency, the police said. The police they would hold a press conference later.
Persons: Phillip Mehrtens, Egianus Kogoya, Mehrtens, Egianus Kogoya’s, , General Faizal Ramadhani Organizations: New Zealand, West Papua National Liberation Army Locations: Papua, Indonesia, New, Indonesia’s Papua, Nduga, Nduga Regency, Timika
Jayapura, Indonesia — Gunmen stormed a helicopter and killed its New Zealand pilot shortly after it landed in Indonesia’s restive Papua region on Monday, and they released two health workers and two children it was carrying, police said. West Papua Liberation Army spokesperson Sebby Sambom told The Associated Press that he had not received any reports from fighters on the ground about the killing. NZ Pilot Philip Mehrtens flanked by members of the West Papua National Liberation Army. Planning to use the pilot to negotiate, Kogoya has said they won’t release Mehrtens unless Indonesia frees Papua as a sovereign country. Flying is the only practical way of accessing many areas in the mountainous easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua.
Persons: Indonesia — Gunmen, Glen Malcolm, Faizal Ramadhani, , Sebby Sambom, ” Sambom, , Philip Mehrtens, Egianus, Philip Mark Mehrtens, Kogoya, Graeme Thomas Wall, Wall Organizations: Indonesia —, Zealand, Indonesian, PT, Angkasa Air Service, West Papua Liberation Army, Free Papua Movement, National Police, Associated Press, New Zealand, NZ, West Papua National Liberation Army, West, Susi, PT Freeport Indonesia Locations: Jayapura, Indonesia, Indonesia’s restive Papua, Alama, Mimika district, Central Papua, Papua, West, Jakarta, Dutch, New Guinea, West Papua, Christchurch, Indonesian, New Zealand, Ngaruawahia
JAKARTA (Reuters) - New Zealand has called for the immediate release of Kiwi pilot Phillip Mehrtens, a year after he was taken hostage by rebels in Indonesia's Papua region, its foreign minister said on Monday. His continued detention serves the interests of no one," New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement. The New Zealand foreign minister said a range of government agencies continued to work extensively with their Indonesian counterparts to secure Mehrtens' release. The separatist group has released video of Mehrtens several times, asking the United Nations to mediate talks towards Papua's independence. In one of the videos, he was seen holding the banned Morning Star flag and surrounded by Papuan fighters.
Persons: Phillip Mehrtens, Egianus Kogoya, Mehrtens, Phillip, Winston Peters, Sebby Sambom, Ananda Teresia, Kate Lamb, Jamie Freed Organizations: Kiwi, West Papua National Liberation Army, New Zealand Foreign, United Nations, New Zealand, United, Star Locations: JAKARTA, New Zealand, Indonesia's Papua, Nduga, Papua, Papua New Guinea, United Nations
[1/2] Egianus Kogoya, young West Papuan rebel commander, sits on a captured plane piloted by New Zealand national Philip Mehrtens in Indonesia's Papua region in this undated picture released on February 14, 2023. Separatist rebels kidnapped New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens, 37, after he landed his small plane in the remote Papuan highlands on Feb 7. An estimated 500 fighters identify as members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement (OPM). Cahyo Pamungkas, a researcher from the National Research and Innovation Agency, said the separatists are using social media to get their message out. "Social media is a tool of resistance to deliver the stories from Papua because national media is mainly dominated by perspectives from Jakarta," he said.
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