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 until the Indonesian authorities allowed Papua to turn into a sovereign state, however the rebels ultimately determined to let him go, proposing phrases that included media involvement within the launch course of.
The New Zealand Ministry of International Affairs and Commerce (MFAT) confirmed Mehrtens’ security and talent to speak together with his household. International Minister Winston Peters expressed reduction on the information, stating that varied New Zealand authorities companies had been working intently with Indonesian authorities for the previous 19 and a half months to safe his launch. “This information should be an unlimited reduction for his buddies and family members,” Peters informed NZ Herald.
Phillip Mehrtens, who was 37 when he was kidnapped, initially educated as a pilot in New Zealand and had lived in Bali together with his household in recent times. Mehrtens is a husband and father from Christchurch. He was kidnapped whereas working a small Pilatus airplane in a area identified for its ongoing tensions and historic insurgency.