Jailhouse Shock: The FormerPresident Bolsonaro Confronts Life in Prison
He contested the legal system and the law triumphed.
A couple of months after getting a 27-year sentence for seeking to “annihilate” Brazil’s democratic institutions, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro now looks headed to prison.
Anticipated Jailing
The found-guilty coup-monger – who has been under residential detention in his mansion while a set of judicial steps and petitions unfold – is widely expected to be jailed in the next few days, amid growing speculation that he will be transferred to a well-known maximum security facility.
Previous Remarks on Convicts
Over Bolsonaro’s 40-year political career, the right-wing ex- military man exhibited little compassion for the country's prison population.
“What’s the need to offer these scoundrels a comfortable existence?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be screwed, period. That's my view.”
On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “Should you not wish to end up in prison, all you have to do is not rape, abduction or rob.”
Incarceration Facility Debate
Yet the idea of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, several of whom this week visited the facility in an seeming effort to dissuade the high court from banishing him there.
The senator, a senator from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was among that group, stated he expected the 70-year-old politician to be imprisoned in the next 10 days and worried his destination could be Papuda.
He asserted Bolsonaro’s severe gut problems – the result of a life-threatening knife attack during the 2018 presidential campaign – signified it would be risky to keep the one-time head of state there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He will not be able to manage if they move him to Papuda … It would be awful,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about overcrowded cells and the quality of inmate food.
When inspecting Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells holding four dozen prisoners: “That is almost one meter squared per inmate.
“We spoke to the inmates and they complain, of course, of the horrible cuisine,” continued the senator.
Allies Speak Out
Lucas is not the sole person speaking out ahead of the ex-leader's expected imprisonment.
Authoring in a major daily, another ally, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “brutal” end to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” political career and claimed Brazil was about to witness “the greatest political injustice in its history”.
“It is an unfairness that eats away the spirits of millions people in Brazil,” he stated.
Divided General Response
This could be true due to the considerable following Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. However his predicted jailing has also warmed the feelings of numerous others who think he should be incarcerated for conspiring to stop his successor from assuming office – and also plotting to have him murdered.
The lawmaker, a congressman for the sitting president's political party, said: “Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be placed in a hole. No one desires Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to obtain dignified treatment – but proper care behind bars. He must not persist being his self-appointed guard for his whole life.”
He observed how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long celebrating the severe treatment of prisoners, had unexpectedly realized to their entitlements. “Only now has the conservative fringe – which has repeatedly argued that human rights were not for lawbreakers – chosen to tour a penitentiary to find out what situations are truly like,” he remarked.
“Bolsonaro is a offender,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he earned “degrading, demeaning conduct”.
Likely Incarceration Conditions
Despite rumors that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which currently holds about 14,000 prisoners, his probable assigned facility appears to be a adjacent penitentiary for police officers and other “special” prisoners called Papudinha (Minor Papuda).
Its cells are far more comfortable than those in the main prison, although still a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro had while occupying the stunning leader's home, about 20 kilometers away.
According to information, the cell Bolsonaro could expect to inhabit in Papudinha has about 260 square feet – approximately the area of two parking spaces – and features a 12 sq metre WC with a water facility and a 130 square foot terrace. “He could be permitted to have a set and additionally a cooler in his quarters as long as they were provided by his loved ones,” sources stated.
Political Comments
The lawmaker criticized the speculated idea to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will rule on his fate in the {