Papuan rebels hold guns to New Zealand pilot’s head in chilling new video as they warn their hostage will be executed if their demands are not met within two months
Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s Papua region have released a chilling video of themselves holding guns to the head of a captured pilot.
Philip Mark Mehrtens, a 37-year-old from New Zealand, will be executed if the rebels’ demands are not met within two months, the rebels said.
Mehrtens has been held by the group for the past 10 months after he was kidnapped by West Papua Liberation Army (TPNPB) fighters in February.
He was working for an Indonesian aviation company when he was kidnapped after landing his single-engine Susi Air plane on a remote airstrip in Indonesia’s mountainous Nduga province, located in the western half of New Guinea.
In the intense 48-second clip circulating on social media, Mehrtens can be seen sitting in a field, with his arms on his knees, surrounded by a circle of men pointing automatic rifles at him.
The group’s leader, wearing a Union Jack bandana, is shown pointing his assault weapon at the New Zealander’s head as he addresses the camera.
Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s Papua region have released a chilling video showing them holding guns to the head of captured pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens.
The leader of TPNPB, named by Indonesian media as Egianus Kogeya, tells the camera that Mehrtens will be shot dead within two months if their demands are not met.
The group, which Indonesia has labeled a terrorist organization, has in the past called on Papua to gain self-government from Indonesia.
The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFAT) said it was aware of the video.
However, it has not released any other information about the footage, such as when and where it was filmed.
Efforts to secure the pilot’s release were ongoing, the government said, including working closely with Indonesian officials and New Zealand consulate staff.
MFAT added that Mehrtens’ well-being was its top priority and his family in New Zealand were being kept informed of the situation and supported.
In April this year, TPNPB fighters killed six Indonesian fighters who were part of a force trying to rescue Mehrtens from captivity.
Military leaders had narrowed down the New Zealander’s location but were attacked by the rebel group on April 15.
Military reports say at least six people have been killed and 21 others have fled into the jungle.
At the time, it was reported that one soldier fell into a deep ravine and died, while others were attacked as they tried to rescue him.
The new video is not the first time that TPNPB has threatened to execute Mehrtens.
A day after he was captured, the group said in another similar video that he will “die here” like “the rest of us” if the Indonesian military tried to rescue him.
Rebel separatists spokesman Sebby Sambom wrote on Facebook that Mr Mehrtens will be held hostage for negotiations with Indonesia – but warned that if Jakarta refused to negotiate or intervene militarily, the pilot “will be executed”.
Sambom said at the time that the rebels would “never release” Mehrtens unless Jakarta made the Papua region independent from Indonesia.
But the Indonesian government stood firm, saying Papua will remain “forever a legitimate part” of Indonesia.
Photo: Philip Mehrtens, center, is seen with fighters from the West Papau Liberation Army
The West Papua Liberation Army group, the armed wing of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), seized Mr Mehrtens before setting fire to his plane on the airstrip in Paro in the remote Nduga district on February 7 (photo)
Mr Mehrtens met his wife Maria in Indonesia, while the couple moved to New Zealand and lived in Auckland while Mr Mehrtens worked for Jetstar.
The couple then returned to Indonesia when he rejoined Susi Air, founded in 2004, which operates a fleet of 50 aircraft.
Separatist rebels kidnapped him after storming a single-engine Indonesian Susi Airlines plane in February, shortly after it landed on a small airstrip.
He reportedly evacuated 15 construction workers building a health center in the district after separatist rebels threatened to kill them.
“Our plan to evacuate the workers angered the rebels, who responded by setting the plane on fire and seizing the pilot,” said Nduga district chief Namia Gwijangge, one of the passengers. “We deeply regret this incident.”
The rebels released all five passengers because they were native Papuans, rebel spokesman Sebby Sambom said at the time.
Phillip Mehrtens was kidnapped shortly after landing in Paro in West Papua’s remote Nguda province
Flying is the only practical way to reach many parts of the mountainous region.
Papua – which includes the western half of New Guinea (Papua New Guinea makes up the eastern half) – was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a UN-sponsored referendum that was widely seen as problematic.
Since then, a low-level insurgency has been simmering in the mineral-rich region, which is divided into two provinces, Papua and West Papua.
About a million people live in Papua, including some uncontacted people.