By : Ones Yikwa )*
The Papuan Separatist Terrorist Group (KST) has been holding a pilot named Philip Mark Mehtrens hostage since February 7. Not only taking hostages, even the group also threatened to shoot Philip. Of course, this does not make the apparatus remain silent, the TNI-Polri are still trying to free the pilot from the Susi Air airline.
Inspector General of Police Mathius Fahiri as the Head of the Papua Regional Police firmly said that his party would not grant requests for ‘weapons’ and ‘independence’. However, his party is ready to grant other requests, such as the money requested by KST.
It is known that KST put forward conditions for Philip’s release, these conditions included Independence, Weapons and Money. Of course conditions such as weapons and independence will not be granted. Until now negotiations are still being carried out involving various parties including the Egianus Kogoya family. The hope is that the involvement of the Egianus family will make it easier for Philip, who is still being held hostage, to surrender.
Philip is also known to have received threats to be shot by KST. Fakhiri considered that it was hoped that in relation to this threat it would not be carried out because it would have a broad impact, so that it would exacerbate the existing conflict in Papua.
Fahiri also believes that the process of freeing the Susi Air pilot will run smoothly. Moreover, all parties, both TNI-Polri and community leaders have worked hard and the results will definitely be good.
The negotiation effort was indeed chosen to prioritize the safety of the hostages, even though this step required a relatively longer time when compared to executing the separatists who were holding hostages. Negotiation efforts, of course, must be carried out patiently, especially since this is very closely related to human life.
The TNI unit has also identified several points suspected of being the location of the separatists in Papua through their own means, both aircraft and the intelligence team. This is done in order to devise a plan to free Philip from being held hostage.
Several months after the hostage-taking, Mehtrens stated in a video that he would be released if Indonesia gave independence to the people of West Papua. In the video, Philip is also seen accompanied by KST members who are holding firearms and traditional weapons.
Mahfud MD as the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menkopolhukam) emphatically said that the government’s stance would not be silent in the face of KST threats. He also stressed that the TNI and Polri would continue to prepare a strategy to free the Susi Air pilot who was being held hostage by KST.
The Indonesian National Police (POLRI) hopes that the KST led by Egianus Kogoya can immediately release Captain Philip who has been held hostage for months. The Head of Public Relations of the Papua Police, Kombes Ignatius Benny Ady Prabowo, said that his party would work together with the TNI and the local government to seek the release of the Susi Air pilot.
Of course it is not easy to have a dialogue with the KKB, so there is no target time for when it will be completed, but the security forces always try to make the persuasive steps taken reach a point. After all, an agreement between the two parties was not easy. Moreover, the negotiation effort was chosen because it prioritized hostage safety.
On a different occasion, the Head of the TNI Information Center Rear Admiral TNI Krisdiyanto said the TNI task force was still carrying out operations with the National Police in the rescue mission for Pilo Susi Air. The TNI unit has also identified several points suspected of being the location of separatists in Papua.
With Papua’s terrain being quite tough, of course there is a risk if TNI-Polri officers approach the area. Moreover, KST had threatened, if the TNI advanced, the hostages would be killed, of course this had to be avoided. Moreover, the local government has also tried to negotiate with KST. Communication space is also not only carried out by the TNI-Polri, but also together with community leaders and religious leaders.
Krisdiyanto himself also explained that the TNI would also not accept an offer from the New Zealand government for the rescue mission of Philip Mehtrens. Previously the New Zealand Government had met the Commander in Chief. The New Zealand Ambassador has offered to help in the rescue of Philip Mehtrens. However, the Commander in Chief stated that the TNI unit was still sufficient to be able to deal with this hostage-taking issue.
In this case, the Papua Police also believes that KST led by Egianus Kogoya will not shoot Pilot Susi Air. If this was done, the shooting of Philip would be a loss for the Egianus Kogoya group because KST no longer had hostages other than Philip. That is why the process of communication and negotiations will continue so that the pilot with New Zealand citizenship can be released soon.
The efforts of the authorities to free Pilot Susi Air certainly need support from the community. So that the officers did not stay alone and continued the process of freeing pilot Susi Air from being held hostage by KST.
)* The author is a Papuan student living in Makassar
