After 592 days in captivity, the rebels agreed to launch Mehrtens, who was reportedly in good well being when he was picked up. He has since been flown to the mining city of Timika for additional well being examinations. Kogoya initially indicated that Mehrtens wouldn’t be launched except the Indonesian authorities allowed Papua to turn out to be a sovereign state, however the rebels finally determined to let him go, proposing phrases that included media involvement within the launch course of.
The New Zealand Ministry of Overseas Affairs and Commerce (MFAT) confirmed Mehrtens’ security and skill to speak along with his household. Overseas Minister Winston Peters expressed reduction on the information, stating that varied New Zealand authorities companies had been working carefully with Indonesian authorities for the previous 19 and a half months to safe his launch. “This information have to be an infinite reduction for his buddies and family members,” Peters advised NZ Herald.
Phillip Mehrtens, who was 37 when he was kidnapped, initially skilled as a pilot in New Zealand and had lived in Bali along with his household lately. Mehrtens is a husband and father from Christchurch. He was kidnapped whereas working a small Pilatus aircraft in a area recognized for its ongoing tensions and historic insurgency.
