New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens has been freed from more than 18 months in captivity in Indonesia’s Papua, the Indonesian police said in a statement on Saturday.

Indonesian authorities said Saturday the New Zealand pilot who’s been held hostage for more than a year in the restive Papua region has been freed by separatist rebels.

Jakarta and Wellington denied Monday a claim by rebels in Indonesia's restive region of Papua that a New Zealand pilot was freed from captivity over the weekend after they received payment from a local leader.