A former New Zealand police negotiator says international negotiations can be long and complex, following the release of a Kiwi pilot held hostage in West Papua for more than a year-and-a-half.
Philip Mehrtens, seized by rebels from the West Papua National Liberation Army in February 2023 after he landed a small commercial plane in a remote area of Indonesia's Papua region, was freed in recent days. He is in good health and has since been reunited with his immediate family in Jakarta.
Liberation Army spokesperson Sebby Sambom claimed the leader of the group that took Mehrtens hostage, Egianus Kogoya, was bribed with money by a local politician.
While New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the suggestion a bribe was paid was "a disgrace" and had "tainted" the lengthy diplomatic effort to free Mehrtens, Lance Burdett - an experienced negotiator in hostage situations - said it was often "something simple like that" which prompted a breakthrough.
Former police negotiator on release of pilot Phillip Mehrtens
But that did not diminish the "complex pathway" diplomats would have taken to get to the point where a payment could be made in confidence, Burdett told Midday Report.
"It goes through diplomatic processes, and generally that's the case, or they'll go through an independent organisation, such as an insurance company.
"They are really complex because you're not dealing with the immediate people, so they're done through intermediaries, and there can be as many as three or four different stages of the process. So to get a message through to somebody, it may have to go through two or three separate people and or organisations to get to the person. Then it comes back again.
"So there's no real direct connection between the people who are doing the negotiation and the hostage-takers."
Phillip Mehrtens, left, with former acting Bupati of Nduga regency, Edison Gwijangge, in the helicopter on his release from captivity. Photo: Mehrtens family / Supplied
Burdett said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade would have been "heavily involved" in negotiations, as would Parliamentary Services.
"Ultimately the freeing came down to money, and usually it does come down to something simple like that. But it's a complex pathway to get to that point…
"Usually it comes down to something as simple… Oftentimes it's political. It would have been done for a reason, but … internationally, it usually comes down to either a political change - which they refer to these days as terrorism - or it comes down to something simple, a gratuity… sometimes it's just paid by insurance companies, but still must go through that international process."
Mehrtens and his family would likely need some time out of the spotlight to assist with his return to normal life, Burdett said.
Lance Burdett. Photo: TODD EYRE Photography Ltd
"I couldn't even begin to imagine - 18 months, life changes for everyone. And when you're put into a situation that's a high-stress, high-pressure situation - without wanting to be negative about it - it's gonna take him a long time to get through this, because the emotions he's going to have to go through it in his head for the brain to sort of unwind things.
"You can only imagine lying there at nighttime, trying to sleep, of the thoughts that were going through - and the brain is now wired that way and the isolation that goes with it… And now to be sort of brought back into the limelight, so oftentimes they will, you know, , put them back with their families in a separate place that's isolated from everybody else just to give that immediacy of 'you're safe'. And then it starts from there - the hard work begins."
West Papua Action Aotearoa spokesperson Catherine Delahunty told Morning Report Sambom had made it clear that the bribe had nothing to do with the New Zealand government.
"The leadership of that military group had not mandated that, but that was what actually happened between the people on the ground, between a local politician paying a bribe to General Kogoya who's from the group that was holding Philip."
"It's pretty much an internal political situation that's nothing to do with our government's negotiation."
University of Waikato international law professor Al Gillespie told RNZ he did not believe New Zealand had any involvement in any bribery.
"I think it's very unlikely that New Zealand would have been involved in bribery or accepting political conditions… because if you do this, if you make these concessions, then your people will become targets in the future - and even though some countries do make payments to avoid worst-case scenarios, I've got no reason to believe New Zealand is one of those countries."