Suharto's son released from jail

Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra was sentenced to 15 years for paying a hitman to kill the judge and other offences, but that was reduced to 10 years on appeal and further sliced by a series of holiday "remissions."

In all he served five years before Monday's release, which drew fire from critics as showing undue leniency to a powerful figure.

"He is out. He will serve the remaining time outside the prison," Gusti Tamarjaya, the justice ministry official handling penitentiaries in Jakarta, told reporters.

While no longer in jail, Tommy is theoretically still a prisoner, having to meet conditions of probation.

Guards switched Tommy from a van to a car after he was blocked by a crowd of reporters and photographers scrambling for comment and footage when he emerged from an East Jakarta jail.