CoveragePost
August 9, 2023
RNZ Pacific Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has called again for the immediate release of New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens, who has now been held hostage by pro-independence fighters in West Papua for six months. Speaking in Auckland, Hipkins said Mehrtens — a pilot for the Indonesian airline Susi Air which provide air links to remote ... <a title="Hipkins urges release of NZ hostage six months after Papua kidnapping" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/08/09/hipkins-urges-release-of-nz-hostage-six-months-after-papua-kidnapping/" aria-label="Read more about Hipkins urges release of NZ hostage six months after Papua kidnapping">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 28, 2023
Asia Pacific Report Free Papua Organisation (OPM) leader Jeffrey Bomanak has appealed for Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape to become a “neutral intermediary” to negotiate between the Indonesian government and the West Papuan rebels holding a New Zealand pilot hostage for his release. He has called in a statement today for the safe ... <a title="OPM call for PNG’s James Marape as negotiator for NZ pilot’s safe passage" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/05/28/opm-call-for-pngs-james-marape-as-negotiator-for-nz-pilots-safe-passage/" aria-label="Read more about OPM call for PNG’s James Marape as negotiator for NZ pilot’s safe passage">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 15, 2023
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand advocacy group has appealed to the government to heed the call of West Papuan church leaders for Indonesia to withdraw security forces and impose a “humanitarian pause” while negotiating for the release of captive pilot Philip Merhtens. Mehrtens, a 37-year-old New Zealander working for the Indonesian local airline Susi ... <a title="Open letter plea for NZ to back West Papua peaceful hostage plan" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/05/15/open-letter-plea-for-nz-to-back-west-papua-peaceful-hostage-plan/" aria-label="Read more about Open letter plea for NZ to back West Papua peaceful hostage plan">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 29, 2023
By David Robie As part of an Indonesian-backed disinformation and troll campaign against West Papuan pro-independence activists, a Facebook page has emerged making bitter and slanderous attacks on campaigners, Papuan exiles and media people in the Pacific region. Among the targets for this page — dubbed “View Information”, purportedly based in the Vanuatu capital of ... <a title="Vila-based Indonesian ‘troll’ page targets Papuan advocates" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/04/29/vila-based-indonesian-troll-page-targets-papuan-advocates/" aria-label="Read more about Vila-based Indonesian ‘troll’ page targets Papuan advocates">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 21, 2023
Tabloid Jubi in Jayapura The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has called on the international community to “pay serious attention” to the escalated violence happening in West Papua. Head of ULMWP’s legal and human rights bureau, Daniel Randongkir, said that since the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) — a separate movement — ... <a title="Papuan liberation group calls for more ‘serious’ global efforts to end violence" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/03/21/papuan-liberation-group-calls-for-more-serious-global-efforts-to-end-violence/" aria-label="Read more about Papuan liberation group calls for more ‘serious’ global efforts to end violence">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 22, 2023
RNZ Pacific A West Papuan independence movement leader, Benny Wenda, says the release of New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens held hostage by armed rebels is out of his hands. The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) fighters kidnapped Mehrtens on February 7 after he landed a small commercial passenger plane in Nduga regency. The group ... <a title="Wenda calls on West Papuan rebels to release kidnapped NZ pilot" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/22/wenda-calls-on-west-papuan-rebels-to-release-kidnapped-nz-pilot/" aria-label="Read more about Wenda calls on West Papuan rebels to release kidnapped NZ pilot">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 18, 2023
Jubi News in Jayapura An indigenous Papuan negotiation team has traversed rugged highlands forests in the Indonesian-ruled Melanesian province in search of the New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens, who was taken hostage by rebels last week. The crisis over the captive pilot held by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) led by Egianus Kogoya ... <a title="Indigenous Papuan negotiators walk to forest hideout to seek release of pilot" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/18/indigenous-papuan-negotiators-walk-to-forest-hideout-to-seek-release-of-pilot/" aria-label="Read more about Indigenous Papuan negotiators walk to forest hideout to seek release of pilot">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 16, 2023
BACKGROUNDER: By David Robie Papuan independence rebels are playing a desperate game of cat and mouse with Indonesian authorities over their hostage taking last week with a New Zealand pilot caught in the middle. Christchurch-raised Philip Mehrtens, 37, a pilot for the national feeder airline Susi Air owned by a former cabinet minister and with ... <a title="Papuan cat-and-mouse over NZ pilot taken captive by ‘freedom’ rebels" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/16/papuan-cat-and-mouse-over-nz-pilot-taken-captive-by-freedom-rebels/" aria-label="Read more about Papuan cat-and-mouse over NZ pilot taken captive by ‘freedom’ rebels">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 9, 2023
RNZ News Indonesian police and military have launched a joint mission to rescue a New Zealand pilot who was seized by rebels as a hostage in Indonesia’s Papua region on Tuesday, media reports say. The Jakarta Post reports that authorities have set up a joint search and rescue operation to try and locate Susi Air ... <a title="Rescue mission underway for NZ pilot held hostage in Papua, say reports" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/09/rescue-mission-underway-for-nz-pilot-held-hostage-in-papua-say-reports/" aria-label="Read more about Rescue mission underway for NZ pilot held hostage in Papua, say reports">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 9, 2023
By Finau Fonua and Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalists A researcher at Human Rights Watch in Jakarta is calling for the immediate release of the six hostages — including a New Zealand pilot — being held by a rebel group in Indonesia’s Papua region. The rebels in Highlands Papua are threatening to execute Susi Air ... <a title="Human rights researcher pleads for West Papuan rebels to free NZ pilot" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/09/human-rights-researcher-pleads-for-west-papuan-rebels-to-free-nz-pilot/" aria-label="Read more about Human rights researcher pleads for West Papuan rebels to free NZ pilot">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 9, 2023
RNZ News An Indonesian human rights researcher has condemned the Papuan rebels who have taken a New Zealand pilot hostage and gone into hiding in a remote mountainous region. Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch urged the rebels to release the pilot, named as Captain Philip Mehrtens of the Indonesian airline Susi Air. “It is ... <a title="Indonesian rights researcher slams kidnapping – efforts to free NZ pilot" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/09/indonesian-rights-researcher-slams-kidnapping-efforts-to-free-nz-pilot/" aria-label="Read more about Indonesian rights researcher slams kidnapping – efforts to free NZ pilot">Read more</a>
