There's belief New Zealand wouldn't have been involved in a bribe to free Kiwi Philip Mehrtens.

The pilot was released last Saturday after 19-and-a-half months of captivity in West Papua.

RNZ has reported the West Papua National Liberation Army claims it was paid a bribe, but Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says that's entirely unsubstantiated..

West Papua Action Aotearoa spokesperson Catherine Delahunty says no one thinks New Zealand paid it.

"I think if a bribe happened, it happened between local people within the area of West Papua."

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