Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Waving and wearing big smile, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putera walked away from the Cipinang narcotics prison Monday a free man, after serving less than half of his 10-year jail term thanks to generous remissions.

The youngest son of former president Soeharto left the maximum security prison in the early afternoon.

Tommy was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2002 for hiring a hit man to assassinate a Supreme Court justice, Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, the year before. The judge had sentenced him to 18 months in jail in a land fraud case.

The court convicted Tommy of corruption, premeditated murder and illegal weapons possession. But the conviction was later altered by the Supreme Court and his sentence reduced to 10 years.

Tommy has received sentence remissions twice a year, for Independence Day and Idul Fitri. The total of remissions was about 31 months.

Tommy, wearing a baseball cap, told journalists shouting questions at him outside the prison that he was "well" and even planned to go on a haj pilgrimage to Mecca.

It was earlier reported that he would be released before Ramadhan as he had requested a conditional release in August. Tommy was entitled to apply for conditional release because he had completed two-thirds of his jail term with the remissions factored in, and had displayed "good conduct" in prison.

For the next three years, Tommy is required to report regularly to penitentiary authorities and is not allowed to go abroad.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin refused to comment on Tommy's release, saying as a Cabinet minister it was not an issue he handled. He said later the government still needs to assess whether Tommy's release will harm the people's sense of justice.

Hamid had said on Oct. 24 that Tommy would likely be released after he was granted a sentence cut of 45 days. He said the ministry would have to coordinate with the prosecutors' office on the release.

Attorney General's Office spokesman I Wayan Pasek Suartha, however, told journalists on Monday that the granting of a conditional release was entirely the authority of the justice ministry. AGO does not have a say in it," he said.

Under Government Regulation No. 28/2006, the ministry does not have to ask for permission or a recommendation from the AGO to release a prisoner. "We don't want people to think the attorneys requested Tommy's release. It would tarnish our image," he said.