Jakarta –
TNI reveal why they refused assistance from New Zealand to save Pilot Susi Air Philip Mark Mehrtens, who was held hostage by the KKB leader Egianus Kogoya. The TNI stressed that they were still capable of handling the hostage-taking case.
This was revealed by the Head of the Information Center (Kasuspen) Laksda Kisdiyanto at PMPP Sentul, Bogor, Wednesday (15/3/2023). Kisdiyanto said Commander-in-Chief Admiral Yudo Margono ensured that the TNI was still able to handle the problem.
“Yesterday the New Zealand Government met with the Commander-in-Chief, the ambassador had offered to help. However, the Commander-in-Chief stated that the TNI unit was still sufficient to deal with this hostage-taking issue,” said Kisdiyanto.
Negotiations Still Ongoing
Kisdiyanto said the negotiations were carried out in accordance with government directives. He hopes that all parties will be patient because negotiations take time.
“No. It is from our government that we are prioritizing negotiations to release the hostages, not from a request from the New Zealand government,” he said.
“Negotiations will not take a moment. It will definitely take a long time and we all have to be patient because this concerns human lives, which we must save even one person. That is human life. So we put forward the origin of taking action against separatists,” he continued.
Kisdiyanto emphasized that the KKB is a group that worries the people in Papua. He said the KKB’s actions made the community victims.
“Indeed, this unit, this separatist group, is very disturbing and they don’t care about the Papuan people themselves. What is proven? The community and children are victims. So they have a living shield,” he explained.
“Actually, if the TNI has received an order from the state, the government will immediately execute it,” continued Kisdiyanto.
The TNI is waiting for government directives for execution, see on the following page
(eva/eva)
