New Zealand pilot killed in Indonesia’s restive Papua

A New Zealand helicopter pilot has been killed in Indonesia’s restive Papua region, security officials said and named a rebel group as the “perpetrator" of the crime.

Aug 06, 2024

JAYAPURA: A New Zealand helicopter pilot has been killed in Indonesia’s restive Papua region, security officials said and named a rebel group as the “perpetrator" of the crime.

Glen Malcolm Conning, 50, was shot dead at around 10 a.m. on Aug. 5 in Alama, Mimika Regency, Central Papua Province, said Bayu Suseno, spokesman for the Cartenz Peace Operations Task Force, which oversees security in Papua.

Suseno said the perpetrator was the “armed criminal group,” referring to the pro-independence West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB)

He said in a statement that the helicopter had flown from Mozes Kilangin Airport in Timika carrying two adult male health workers, a child, and a baby.

“When they arrived at the runway, they were intercepted by the armed criminal group using firearms and taken to a field. There, the pilot was executed. After that, his body was taken to the helicopter and then burned on site,” he said.

The passengers, he said, were safe “because they were local residents.”

Suseno said Alama is an isolated area that can only be accessed by air.

He said the perpetrators were under Egianus Kogoya, the leader of a separatist group in Mimika who “is the main target of the Cartenz Peace Operation Task Force in 2024.”

The incident occurred almost 18 months after the kidnapping by separatists of another New Zealand pilot, Phillip Mehrtens, who is still being held captive.

Mehrtens was kidnapped on Feb. 7 last year after landing a small commercial plane in the remote mountainous area of Nduga.

Meanwhile, Sebby Sambon, TPNPB spokesman, said he had not received information from the ground about the killing.

However, he said, if the TPNPB did it, then "it is a risk borne by the pilot himself" because Alama is a war zone and a no-fly zone for civilian aircraft due to the fighting.

Sebby told Papua-based news portal Jubi.id that he also suspected Conning entered the Mimika area as a spy for government officials "to monitor the TPNPB's defense system."

The incident has sparked criticism from the Church and human rights groups.

A church source in Papua who asked not to be named for security reasons told UCA News, "There needs to be an independent investigation into this incident, amid unilateral claims from the authorities and pro-independence groups."

Yan Christian Warinussy, the Papua Peace Network spokesman, called it a case of vigilantism and "clearly a criminal act that can be prosecuted under Indonesian criminal law."

He said that to accuse Conning of being a spy was baseless.

Warinussy urged Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo to lead the investigation directly and allow the National Commission on Human Rights to investigate the incident.

A pro-independence insurgency continued in Papua after Indonesia took control of the former Dutch colony in the 1960s.

The Christian-dominated province remains poor despite being mineral-rich. It has the world's largest gold mine and extensive sources of natural gas, minerals, timber, and palm oil.--ucanews.com