Tommy moved to Indonesian 'Alcatraz'

Tommy Suharto continues to insist he is innocent but says there is no point in appealing his conviction

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The son of Indonesia's former President Suharto has been moved to a top security island prison, dubbed 'the Indonesian Alcatraz', to serve out his 15-year jail term for murder.

Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra was convicted in July of ordering the assassination of a high court judge who had earlier convicted him of corruption.

He has since been held in Jakarta's high security Cipinang Prison, but there were several allegations that he had been receiving special treatment there as well as being allowed luxury items in his cell.

On Thursday Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra told reporters that Tommy had been flown to the prison island of Nusakambangan, off the southern coast of Java, for security reasons.

"Tommy has the ability and means to escape and therefore must be transferred to a maximum security prison," The Associated Press quoted Mahendra as saying.

Police officials said Tommy was moved from Cipinang jail in the early hours of Thursday morning, traveling in a convoy of vehicles to a small airport on the outskirts of the capital.

Colonial jail

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He was then flown in a small aircraft to the town of Cilacap on the south central coast of Java before being taken by helicopter to Nusakambangan.

The island prison dates from the Dutch colonial era and once had a reputation as the harshest penal colony in Southeast Asia.

During the rule of Tommy's father, former President Suharto, hundreds of political dissidents were imprisoned on the island.

By moving to Nusakambangan Tommy will be joining another high-profile inmate from the Suharto era, his father's former business and golfing partner, Muhamad "Bob" Hasan.

Hasan, a billionaire, is serving a six-year jail sentence for corruption.

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