Like Bob Hasan, Tommy has built a palace at Cipinang jail. But many prisoners are unhappy about it.
In jail, Tommy received a letter containing the Javanese poems Asmaradana and Dhandhang Gula. They had been sent by a man from Bangil, East Java. "Be strong in facing challenges," wrote the sender, "Don't forget to read these poems softly into Pak Harto's ear so he will recover quickly and the Cendana (Suharto) family will be free of their misfortune."
Two weeks ago, Tommy was allowed to leave the jail to visit his sick father. It is not clear if he read the poems. It is not even clear if he paid any attention to the letter.
Tommy should be concentrating more on his trial, which started last Wednesday, rather than reading epistles. The son of the former president is facing a possible death sentence as a result of four charges: the murder of Supreme Court Judge Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, fleeing from justice and concealing weapons at two locations in Jakarta.
But the letter shows that Tommy still has fans. He has received at least seven letters in his two months locked up in Cipinang Prison. They are from a range of people including women, young girls and teenagers. They are all sympathetic to his plight. Somebody even sent some cake. "Tommy's guard and I tried the cake," said Ngusman, Cipinang Prison's governor.
If you hope Tommy is having a miserable time in jail-because of the loss of amenities and respect-you are in for a disappointment. Apart from having fans, Tommy is enjoying many facilities behind bars.
Just take a look at Tommy's cell. Suharto's youngest son is in Block III H, a special block. Previously only political prisoners such as former foreign minister Soebandrio were allowed there. There are three large cells. Tommy occupies cell one, which has been tiled and has a private bathroom. It also has a table, chairs, a spring bed, a fan, cooking utensils, a 21-inch television and air-conditioning. All of these were installed by Tommy's men. "The air-conditioning was the most important because it's hot there," said Osmon, the man in charge of these details.
At present, cell number three, which is even larger, is being renovated. According to a guard, Tommy will be moved to that cell. Because of last month's flood, the floor is being raised. Four men are currently installing a 400-Watt water pump with 24-inch pipes. The yard in front of the cell is also being renovated, as is a small area for playing ping-pong.
While, the other 2,383 prisoners must sleep crammed together, Tommy has a cell to himself. In the next cell are Supardi, Sugiyanto and Juma'in-convicted of bank robbery. It is reported that Supardi and Sugiyanto have been asked not to "disturb" Tommy. Juma'in certainly will not cause any trouble, as he is not in full possession of his senses. "He was put in that cell to give the impression that Tommy has been put with ordinary prisoners," said a Cipinang prisoner.
Block III H is almost completely cut off from outsiders, except for invited guests. Some prison guards are not allowed to enter. Changes of prison guard are overseen personally by prison governor Ngusman. "Not all prison guards are allowed to go near the place," said Antasari Azhar, assistant for general criminal cases at the Attorney General's Office (AGO) who once visited Tommy's cell.
Although guards are not allowed near, security around Tommy's cell is very tight. "Now we have to patrol right round the fence outside the complex every three hours," said a guard.
Another facility the boss of the Humpuss Group enjoys is a special visitor's room. It measures 8 x 3 meters and was previously used for medical examinations of prisoners. It is divided in two. One half is a waiting room and the other is the main part. A door joins the two rooms. Not long after Tommy arrived at the jail, the room was altered. A gray carpet was fitted and an L-shaped couch, a buffet, a television, a refrigerator, a Toshiba air-conditioner, a water purifier and chairs were added together with a bathroom equipped with a shower. Every time one of the Suharto family comes to visit, fresh flowers are put on the table.
The walls are painted white, while the iron bars on the windows are painted light green and there are blind that can be raised and lowered. All the fittings look new, including the padlock used to lock the door. It is reported that the Suharto family spent Rp50 million to improve the special room.
Not many people are allowed in. Prison guards are not allowed to enter unless asked. Security is guaranteed. Apart from being underneath the prison governor's office, the room is part of the main Cipinang Prison building so other prisoners cannot approach, yet alone spy on Tommy and his visitors.
According to a number of guards Tommy spends almost the entire day in the visitor's room. This is not surprising, given the non-stop flow of visitors. The regulations, which state that visitors are only allowed between 9am and 3pm, do not apply to Tommy. Even if there are no visitors, Tommy stays in the visitor's room until dark. "I once saw him sprawled on the couch when I was asked to take his food to him," said Ibu Achadi, who owns a food-stall in front of the jail and often comes and goes in and out of the jail.
Tommy's lawyer, Elza Syarief, denies Tommy enjoys all these amenities. "There is nothing special. Tommy's cell is just like other cells, except there is a fan, television and bed. OK," she said.
No matter what denials come from Elza, the facilities do exist. The jail is no longer a filthy disgusting place. Several of Tommy's acquaintances have arrived at Cipinang "palace" in luxury cars. Among frequent visitors is racing driver Tinton Suprapto, Tutut (Tommy's older sister), Mamiek Suharto and several of his staff from Humpuss. And of course another visitor is Raden Ayu Ardhia Pramesti Regita Cahyani – usually known as Tata-Tommy's wife.
Compared to the other visitors, Tata stays longest. Last Thursday, for example, she was there five hours. Not a single guard was allowed to enter the room. Several guards smirked that perhaps the two were being intimate inside. Being intimate? If true, that should be nothing strange, after all they are husband and wife. But, going by the Cipinang regulations, Tommy has been receiving extraordinary special treatment.
Just read this statement from prison governor Ngusman. According to Ngusman, a prisoner's visitor may only stay for half an hour at most. Prisoners wishing to satisfy their biological urges are not forbidden from doing so. In Cipinang Prison, the right to "meet in private with a wife" is usually referred to as "family visiting leave" (CMK). But this privilege is only given to prisoners serving at least a one-year sentence that have already spent nine months in jail. CMK can only be granted to prisoners with good behavior records. Clearly Tommy does not fulfill those criteria. "He was not granted CMK. But I know the five-hour visit was a violation [of prison regulations]," said Ngusman.
Tommy did not only violate the rules regulating visiting times. Other prisoners' visitors are not allowed into the cells, but Tommy's visitors usually are free to walk to his cell. Block III H has direct access to outside. A guard related how in the first few weeks of Tommy's detention, some of Tommy's men brought their cars right up to the block. When he was taken to court last Wednesday, the father of two was picked up at his cell door in a Toyota Dyna Rino.
Perhaps because of the tight security, or because he feels like a stranger, Tommy hardly ever socializes with other prisoners except for playing ping-pong with Sugiyanto and Supardi in the morning. He never goes to the other blocks.
"Tommy is a coward," said Agiono, a prisoner jailed for the murder of gambling king Nyo Beng Seng. Last Idul Adha the governor gave the prisoners permission to greet Tommy after Id prayers. Instead of returning the greetings, he hid behind the governor. "He would certainly run if he was told to walk from this post to his cell without a guard," said Agiono. "I resent Tommy because he never speaks to anybody unless they talk to him first."
Although he does not socialize, many prisoners have tried to approach Tommy. Their intention is to offer their services as bodyguards. One prisoner who wants to become a bodyguard is Lim Bahrun. The 39-year-old was convicted of murder and drug offenses. "If I get the chance, I want to meet him and offer my services as a bodyguard," said the resident of Block II D. "Now everybody wants to become Tommy's bodyguard," he added.
Becoming a bodyguard to an important prisoner is certainly a dream. Ricardo Gelael-convicted of an illegal land swap deal involving State Logistics Agency (Bulog) land-had 10 bodyguards. All received benefits. As well as a salary, they all received mobile phones. But Tommy does not yet have any special guards. He seems to place more trust in the official prison guards and his personal staff who arrive as visitors.
That is why many prisoners say Tommy is mean. Many of the guards say they have not received any "service allowance" like that given by Ricardo. "So far he has only been keeping us busy," said Mitro Subroto, the guard who usually organizes Tommy's visitors.
In fact Tommy has in the past been more generous. Since he was jailed he has twice distributed 2,750 packs of foodstuffs to the other prisoners. He also repaired the audio equipment in the Cipinang prayer room. Three weeks before Tommy was sent to Cipinang, Tinton, a close friend of Tommy, gave 10 red bicycles to the prison staff. Tinton also told Tempo's Tomi Lebang that he planned to give driving lessons to the Cipinang Prison drivers. According to Ngusman, the Suharto family also plans to pay for the costs of turning the idle land around Cipinang Prison into farmland. A source said that Tommy has so far spent Rp50-Rp60 million on all this assistance.
This is of course not a great deal of money for this particular suspect. When Tommy was arrested in Bintaro at the end of last year, approximately Rp1.6 billion in cash was scattered around his room. Money in safes and in bank accounts is certainly even more. So if he has to stay in Cipinang as a result of the verdict at his trial, it is not impossible that even more facilities will come his way. For somebody like Tommy, everything can be bought.
[Arif Zulkifli, Yostinus Tomi Aryanto, Cahyo Junaedi, Eduardus Karel Dewanto, Deddy Sinaga - Tempo News Room.]