Susi Air Pilot Still Detained By KKB Papua, Mahfud MD: International Cannot Interfere
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhuman) Mahfud MD emphasized that the international community should not intervene in efforts to free Susi Air Pilots who are held hostage by armed criminal groups (KKB) in Papua.
According to Mahfud, this has become the policy of the Government of Indonesia which will not involve other countries in internal problems that are believed to be resolved on their own.
"Whatever is at stake is not allowed to enter the international world there," he said while delivering directions at the National Coordination Meeting regarding the 2024 General Election with the TNI Commander Admiral Yudo Margono and National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo in Jakarta, Monday, May 29, confiscated by Antara.
Mahfud added, if the international community is given permission to be involved in the operation to release Susi Air's pilots, it is feared that it will spread to various other domestic problems.
"Thus, we reject any international interference efforts offered by international NGOs, we do not want (to)," he said.
VOIR éGALEMENT:
The hostage-taking of the pilot Susi Air from New Zealand, Philip Mark Mehrtens, is one of the factual issues in the Papua region which is a challenge for the TNI-Polri in an effort to secure the 2024 General Election.
In addition to the hostage-taking, Mahfud highlighted the large number of killings of civilians, security disturbances at various points, including airport facilities and government offices, as well as regional expansions that resulted in the formation of at least four new provincial-level autonomous regions (DOB) in Papua.
For information, the Pilot of Susi Air, a New Zealand national, Philip Mark Mehrtens, has been held hostage by the KKB under the leadership of Egianus Kogoya since February 7, 2023, shortly after landing his plane at Paro Airport, Nduga Regency.
Search efforts that have been carried out since then have even claimed the lives of five TNI soldiers who died in an attack by the KKB in Mugi-man on April 15, 2023.