JP/2/TOMMY

Tommy to regularly visit doctor in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Former strongman Soeharto's favorite son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra has been treated at Gatot Subroto Army Hospital in Central Jakarta for a tumor in the cranial cavity, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

Tommy is serving a 10-year sentence in a Nusakambangan island prison in Cilacap regency, Central Java, for masterminding the murder of a Supreme Court judge.

His lawyer, Elza Syarief, said that Tommy had been admitted to the Army hospital on July 11 and remained there.

Tommy previously underwent surgery for a tumor behind the eye. The second tumor, however, is inoperable and must therefore be prevented from spreading, according to Elza.

"For that reason, he has to be brought to Jakarta every month to carry out test to determine whether the tumor is benign or not. It is too early to determine the state of his health because no medical procedure has been done yet," Elza told detikcom news portal.

She added that Tommy had not requested permission to seek medical treatment abroad.

"Reporters always ask about seeking treatment abroad, but the minister of justice and human rights (Hamid Awaluddin) said he would not issue a permit for that. We haven't asked for permission to seek treatment overseas. The Army hospital will be sufficient," Elza said.

Journalists have tried to visit Tommy in the hospital's Kartika Pavilion but to no avail as security is tight there.

In what many considered preferential treatment for big-time convicts linked to wealth and power, Soeharto's former golfing buddy Mohammad "Bob" Hasan was often reported to have been taken from the Nusakambangan prison to Jakarta for so-called medical treatment.

Tommy was initially sentenced to 15 years in July 2002 for masterminding the murder of Supreme Court justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who sentenced him to 18 months in prison in 2000 for corruption in a multimillion dollar real estate deal.

After the sentence was handed down, Tommy went on the run for more than a year -- during which time Syafiuddin was murdered -- before being captured in November 2001 and put on trial for Syafiuddin's murder.

Soeharto's son was also found guilty of possessing illegal weapons and explosives.

Last month, however, the Supreme Court acceded to Tommy's request for a sentence review, cutting the original prison sentence to 10 years.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan, who led the panel of five justices hearing Tommy's request for a sentence reduction, has said the judges reduced the sentence because they believed one of the four charges against Tommy should not have carried a penalty.

He was referring to the charge of fleeing justice.

The sentence reduction was criticized by legal experts, who said there was no legal reason for the court to slash the sentence of Tommy.

They also argued that according to the law, for a defendant facing multiple charges a court shall not hand down a sentence that exceeds the longest prison term for one charge plus one- third.

The three other charges against Tommy, two on illegal possession of firearms and explosives, and another on ordering a murder, carry a maximum prison term of 20 years.

With presidential pardons given every year, it is expected that Tommy could be released by 2007.