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.