Papua separatist rebels appeal to New Zealand pilot’s captor to let him go after a year

Separatist rebels asked for the immediate release Saturday of the New Zealand pilot who's been held hostage for almost a year in Indonesia’s restive Papua region. Egianus Kogoya, a regional commander in the Free Papua Movement, took Philip Mark Mehrtens, a pilot from Christchurch who was working for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air, on Feb. 7 2023.