The government continues to try to free the Susi Air airline pilot who was held hostage by the Papuan Separatist and Terrorist Group (KST), including trying to eradicate the separatist gang. The release of the hostages also prioritizes a dialogue approach to prevent casualties.
KST is still holding Susi Air Pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens hostage. The Government has a strategy for liberation efforts, with efforts being guarded by the security forces through the Indonesian National Army (TNI) and the Indonesian National Police (Polri) to the State Intelligence Agency, through a number of negotiations and law enforcement efforts.
The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) ensured that the government would not remain silent and would continue to work towards the release of the pilot named Philip Mark Mehrtens. So far, many efforts have been made, but not all of these efforts can be conveyed clearly to the public.
Various efforts have been made by the government to free the New Zealand national pilot, not even excluding the methods used ‘underground’.
All efforts and all angles have also been used by the Indonesian Government so that the efforts made can truly produce optimal results. However, not all of these steps can simply be conveyed openly to the public, because some steps are carried out using ‘underground’ efforts and there are also ‘overground’ efforts.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Papua Regional Police (Kapolda), Inspector General of Police (Irjen Pol) Mathius D Fakhiri confirmed that there is absolutely no time limit in carrying out the negotiation process because all parties really want the Susi Air pilot to be able to return safely.
Negotiations regarding the release of the pilot named Philip Mark Mehrtens are continuing to be carried out by the security forces with absolutely no haste and of course all the steps taken are full of caution and thoroughness.
For example, when security forces encounter any information from the field, they will not immediately rush into action without careful planning and calculations, but will first investigate all sources obtained from the field systematically.
After conducting an in-depth investigation, then the security forces will formulate what method they want to take. Of course, this was done because they were dealing with KST Papua, which is a sadistic and barbaric group that does not hesitate to immediately take anyone’s life.
If the security forces make the wrong move or make the wrong move because they are in a hurry, it is feared that many undesirable things will happen, such as bloodshed or casualties, whether from the security forces themselves, local residents, or perhaps KST Papua will end the pilot’s life. .
The figure of Egianus Kogoya as the leader of the Papuan Separatist and Terrorist Group (KST) who took hostage hostage Philip Mark Mehrtens himself is a very sadistic criminal and he has a long list of crimes.
In fact, while taking the New Zealand pilot hostage, Egianus Kogoya killed a child in the Kuyawage District in early March 2023. Therefore, because they did not want any casualties, the security forces took very careful steps.
The most important thing to maintain is how to continue to approach KST Papua, but on the other hand, there should be no more victims, whether they come from security forces or indigenous Papuan civilians (OAP).
The deployment of security forces at various points succeeded in suppressing the Papuan KST movement
The separatist gang from Bumi Cenderawasih continued to take the Susi Air pilot from one location to another. This is in accordance with the report from the Cartenz 2023 Peace Task Force which captured images of the location of the perpetrator and victim.
Head of Cartenz 2023 Peace Operations, Police Commissioner (Kombes Pol) Faizal Ramadhani said that Egianus Kogoya had not been with Philip Mark Mehrtens for quite a long time, or to be precise, after the last hostage-taking documentation was distributed on May 25 2023.
The time for collecting the distributed documentation was around May 13 2023. Apart from that, in fact KST Papua in Nduga itself is also spread across several district locations, while the position of their leader, Egianus Kogoya, himself is not with the Susi Air pilot, and this has been going on for more than six months.
Even so, the security forces have not lost their way at all. The deployment of all security personnel from the joint TNI and Polri forces at various points in Nduga turned out to be quite successful in further suppressing the movement of the separatist gangs.
This is proven by the fact that up to now, Egianus Kogoya as the leader of KST Papua has not yet moved to the location of the pilot they are holding hostage because his movements are limited by the security forces.
Various efforts have been made by the government, ranging from negotiations to anticipation or strict law enforcement against KST Papua, which of course makes joint personnel security forces as its front guard. All of this was in order to free the Susi Air pilot who was being held hostage by the terrorist gang and to be able to eradicate KST Papua.