Tommy gets 2-week sick leave from prison

Tommy gets 2-week sick leave from prison

Evi Mariani, Jakarta

Convicted felon Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra has been ordered to
take a minimum two-week rest at the plush Kartika Pavilion, Gatot
Subroto Army Hospital (RSPAD), Central Jakarta, after a nine-hour
surgery on Sunday to treat a tumor behind his left eye.

"Even though the surgery took quite long, from 6 a.m. until 3
p.m., it went smoothly," Robert Hutauruk, head of the 10-doctor
team in charge of Tommy's treatment, said on Sunday afternoon.

"We did not remove the tumor, as it is located too close to
his brain. We just performed a 'reconstruction' of the eye to
minimize the symptoms he would have suffered," he explained.

The doctors also conducted an endoscopy to check on a
suspected polyp on Tommy's ulcer.

Robert said Tommy's older sister, Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti
Rukmana, had accompanied him in the operation room at Kartika
Pavilion.

Earlier in the day, former president Soeharto had reportedly
paid a visit to his youngest son before the surgery.

However, several reporters and cameramen who had waited since
early morning in the lobby of the surgery wing only met Tutut at
the hospital.

Tommy was admitted post-surgery to the Intensive Care Unit.

"If his condition is good, we can move him at midnight tonight
to his room," Robert added.

"Tommy needs about two weeks to recuperate. Actually, there is
nothing special about the treatment. It is like treating a common
wound, but we have to make sure it is perfectly healed so as to
avoid infections," he said.

Tommy is expected to be back in his cell at Batu Penitentiary
on prison island Nusa Kambangan, Central Java, after the two-week
recovery period.

Tommy has been admitted to the VIP suite at Kartika Pavilion
several times this year. In February, according to his prison
doctor, he suffered from "chest pains, vertigo, dyspepsia and
depression". Later, a team of doctors said they had detected a
tumor behind his left eye.

Four VIP rooms were booked for Tommy alone that time, all of
which were guarded by policemen and several well-built men.

Citing his health condition, Tommy had failed seven times to
appear at a Central Jakarta court to testify as a witness in the
extortion case against Abdullah Sidiq Muin. He eventually made an
appearance on Feb. 16, 2004 at the eighth court summons and Sidiq
was subsequently sentenced on April 6 to three months in jail.

Sidiq, an Islamic boarding school teacher, was charged with
extorting Rp 15 billion (US$1.76 million) from Tommy. Sidiq had
promised Tommy a meeting with then president Abdurrahman Wahid
and guaranteed a full pardon of his graft conviction in 2000.

Tommy is currently serving a 15-year term at the penitentiary
for illegal weapons possession and ordering the assassination of
Supreme Court Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who had handled
his graft case and sentenced him to 18 months in jail.