Tommy gets treated in Jakarta once a month

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Nusa Kambangan

In theory, the "official residence" of convicted murderer Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the son of former president Soeharto, is in the Batu penitentiary on Nusakambangan prison island.

Unlike his fellow prisoners, including the two henchmen he hired for the assassination of a Supreme Court justice in 2000, Noval Hadad and Maulawarman, who were sentenced to life, he has been allowed to leave his cell and come to Jakarta for one week every month since December last year, at the least.

"It is (Tommy's leave) made possible because of the recommendation from RSPAD, with his medical record attached. It's not based on our doctors here," said Sudijanto, the warden of the Batu penitentiary, on Thursday, referring to the Jakarta- based Gatot Subroto Army hospital.

The hospital recommendation says the high-profile convict must undergo medical treatment for a tumor near his eye for one week each month.

The hospital's chief administrator Brig. Gen. Mardjo Subiyandono said on Wednesday that Tommy had a blood vessel constriction in his neck and brain, which causes migraine headaches and could bring about a stroke at any time.

Sudijanto said that the treatment began in December.

"I don't know whether he had underwent the treatment before, because I took the post in December last year," he stated.

With two guards from Batu prison and several police officers from the Cilacap Police department, Tommy comes to Jakarta either by a chartered helicopter from the island's helipad or aboard commercial planes from Cilacap's Tunggul Wulung airport.

Tommy, who was convicted in a series of criminal cases including the murder of Supreme Court Justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, personally pays for the transportation to Jakarta and for the extra "allowances" for the officers that get to escort him.

"We don't give preferential treatment to him. It's for humanitarian reasons. Other convicts are allowed to do that as long as they have a recommendation and can pay our way," Sudijanto said.

According to the warden, Tommy rarely leaves his cell in the morning and afternoon because "he cannot bear the sunlight".

This month, Tommy has been allowed to receive medical treatment in Jakarta from July 11 to July 18.

Tommy's lawyer, Elza Syarief, had said earlier that Tommy had developed tumors behind his eye. One of them has been removed but the second is inoperable. The treatment is mandatory to prevent it from spreading, she said.

Elza admitted that her client had been brought every month to Jakarta to carry out "tests on whether the tumor was benign or not".

Meanwhile, Sudijanto said that Tommy was likely to leave the prison with the status of conditional release.

"We haven't got the copy of the Supreme Court verdict. But, if his sentence period has been reduced to 10 years (as has been reported recently), it is likely that he would leave the prison for conditional release next year since he has been in prison since 2001," he said.

The Supreme Court recently reduced the sentence period for Tommy from 15 years to 10 years following a judicial review of the case.