Indonesian separatists release video of NZ pilot they took hostage

Phillip Mark Mehrtens, a pilot for Susi Air, was abducted by members of the West Papua Liberation Army

Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s restive Papua province have released photos and videos of a man they said is the pilot from New Zealand they took hostage last week.

Phillip Mark Mehrtens of Christchurch, a pilot for the Indonesian aviation company Susi Air, was abducted by independence fighters from the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, who stormed his single-engine plane shortly after it landed on a small runway in Paro in the remote Nduga district.