Indonesian police say Mehrtens has been flown out of mountainous Nduga and seems in good well being.
New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens has been freed by rebels in Indonesia’s troubled japanese area of Papua 19 months after he was kidnapped.
“At this time, we now have picked up pilot Phillip, who’s in good well being, and we flew him from Nduga to Timika,” Faizal Ramadhani, head of a particular unit shaped to deal with the battle in Papua, mentioned in an announcement on Saturday. Mehrtens is present process additional well being checks and a physiological examination, Indonesian police added.
Fighters from the West Papua Nationwide Liberation Military (TPNPB) snatched Mehrtens on February 7 final 12 months after he landed his small business airplane within the distant, mountainous space of Nduga.
The Indigenous individuals of Papua have been preventing for independence from Indonesia for the reason that territory was integrated into the nation following a controversial referendum backed by the United Nations.
After taking Mehrtens, the TPNPB mentioned he wouldn’t be launched till Papua was given its independence.
New Zealand media reported earlier this week that the rebels had proposed new phrases for Mehrtens’s launch.