The TNI Commander, Admiral Yudo Margono, stated that he did not want to fight the Papuan armed criminal group (KKB) terrorists in the release of Susi Air pilot Philip Mark Methrtens, who had been held hostage by the KKB for two months.
Yudo is worried that the KKB is actually turning Papuans into "shields" when they go to war.
"I don't want to use the method of war. Later, if the method of war is used, many residents will become victims and they will use it as a 'shield'," Yudo said when met at Halim Perdanakusuma Airstrip, East Jakarta, Sunday (9/4/2023).
Yudo said the TNI was prioritizing the precautionary principle in releasing the Susi Air pilot.
According to him, the operation to release the Susi Air pilot should not even make the lives of the community and local leaders become victims.
"Prioritize the safety of the people's lives and also community leaders, religion as well as the regional government, especially the regent in an area who continues to ask the TNI to continue to make every effort so that no victims arise," said Yudo.
Meanwhile, Yudo was furious when the media crew asked him about the release of the Susi Air pilot.
He asked that the development of the release of the Susi Air pilot not be exposed too much because it would make KKB proud.
"What is clear is that we have succeeded in arresting several KKB and have confiscated several weapons through a territorial operation that we carried out with the National Police," said Yudo.
2 months held hostage
It has been two months since Susi Air pilot Philip Mark Merthens (37) has been taken hostage by KKB led by Egianus Kogoya in Papua, February 7 2023.
The group also set fire to a Susi Air plane at the Paro District Airport, Nduga, Papua Mountains.
Since then, the joint TNI-Polri team has continued to search for Captain Philip.
Since the hostage-taking, the joint team has taken a soft approach involving local indigenous people to repatriate Captain Philip.
In addition, the government is coordinating with the New Zealand authorities regarding the rescue of its citizens.
The Head of the Police Public Relations Division, who at that time was Inspector General Dedi Prasetyo, said that the soft approach was carried out through communication between the Cartenz Damai Task Force, the Papua Regional Police and the KKB party that took Philip hostage.
"Moreover, the regional police chief is a native of Papua. So I think local wisdom approaches can implement this. We all hope that the Susi Air pilots can be returned as soon as possible or we can receive them safely," said Dedi in Jakarta, Thursday (16/2/2023).
Even so, law enforcement officials are also preparing a legal approach under the direct control of the Papuan Police Chief.
Separately, the Head of the TNI Information Center (Kapuspen) Rear Admiral (Laksda) Kisdiyanto said that the operation to free the Susi Air pilot would take a long time.
He emphasized that the government and local residents continued to negotiate with the group led by Egianus Kogoya.
“Yes, if the negotiations are not going to take a while, it will definitely take a long time. And we all have to be patient, because this involves human lives that we have to save. Even though it's one person, those are human lives," Kisdiyanto told media crew at the TNI Peacekeeping Mission Center (PMPP), Sentul, Bogor, Wednesday (15/3/2023).
According to him, TNI Commander Admiral Yudo Margono had communicated with New Zealand Ambassador Y.M Kevin Burnett.
During the talks, New Zealand also offered assistance to the TNI Commander.
“(New Zealand) has already offered to help. However, the Commander-in-Chief stated that there are still enough TNI units to be able to deal with this hostage-taking issue," said Kisdiyanto.
He said that the TNI-Polri could actually execute the KKB led by Egianus Kogoya. However, the execution must be based on orders from the state.
The TNI-Polri apparatus, he said, already knew the points where the KKB would take the Philips pilot if they wanted to execute him.
However, according to him, the operation being carried out at this time is an operation that prioritizes the safe return of the hostages.
"Actually, if the TNI has received an order from the state, the government, to execute it immediately, we will carry it out," said Kisdiyanto.
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) also paid attention to the process of rescuing the Susi Air pilot.
Jokowi ensured that the government continues to monitor developments in the case which initially occurred in Paro District, Nduga Regency.
"Last night we had an internal meeting, one of which was discussing that," said the President after inaugurating the Papua Youth Creative Hub in Jayapura City, Papua, Tuesday (21/3/2023).
Jokowi also reminded that this case should not be handled in a hurry because it involves human life.
"The most important thing is to be careful so that safety comes first," said the President.