Helsingin Sanomat reports on the role of Finn Juha Christensen in the negotiations that led to the release of the New Zealand pilot.
Finnish former CEO and current peace negotiator Juha Christensen a New Zealand pilot participated by Phillip Mehrtens to the negotiations that ended with liberation in Indonesian Papua, Helsingin Sanomat reports.
New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens was released on Saturday after being held hostage by an armed separatist group in the remote Nduga region of Papua province for 19 months.
Mehrtens was kidnapped in April 2023 by a group of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB).
Christensen has extensive experience negotiating with Indonesian separatist groups and was part of the peace talks that brought President Martti to Ahtisaari Nobel Peace Prize.
Christensen tells Helsingin Sanomat that he was, however, only part of a larger entity in which governmental and civil society actors also sought Mehrtens’ release.
Christensen traveled to negotiate with the Papuan guerillas a total of three times, most recently just a week ago in September.