Jailhouse Surprise: Brazil's FormerPresident Bolsonaro Faces Life Behind Bars
He fought the legal system and justice triumphed.
Two months following getting a 27-year sentence for seeking to “destroy” Brazil’s political system, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now seems headed to prison.
Imminent Incarceration
The convicted instigator – who had been subject to house arrest in his residence while a series of legal procedures and petitions play out – is broadly anticipated to be imprisoned in the next few days, during growing talk that he will be moved to a notorious maximum security facility.
Previous Remarks on Prisoners
Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade time in politics, the far-right former military man showed minimal mercy for the country's inmates.
“What’s the need to offer these lowlifes a comfortable existence?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be fucked, end of story. That’s what I reckon.”
At another time, Bolsonaro stated: “If you don’t want to wind up there, the only thing required is not rape, abduction or theft.”
Prison Facility Debate
Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has appalled supporters, four of whom this week toured the complex in an obvious effort to dissuade the judiciary from sending him there.
The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, said he anticipated the elderly figure to be incarcerated in the next 10 days and was concerned his destination could be Papuda.
Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s severe intestinal issues – the result of a life-threatening stabbing during the last election race – signified it would be dangerous to keep the ex-leader there. “His condition is very grave. He will not be able to handle it if they take him to Papuda … It would be dreadful,” he added, who also voiced anxiety about cramped cells and the standard of prison meals.
During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells accommodating 40 prisoners: “That is almost one meter squared per detainee.
“We spoke to the convicts and they protest, naturally, of the awful cuisine,” continued the senator.
Allies React
The senator isn't the lone figure voicing opinions ahead of the ex-leader's anticipated imprisonment.
Writing in a major daily, one more backer, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” political career and claimed Brazil was about to experience “the biggest political injustice in its record”.
“This is an wrong that erodes the hearts of many people in Brazil,” Wajngarten wrote.
Mixed General Opinion
It is possibly true given the significant support Bolsonaro maintains on the right-wing. However his anticipated incarceration has also pleased the hearts of numerous individuals who think he should be jailed for plotting to block the incoming president from taking power – and also plotting to have him murdered.
The lawmaker, a congressman for the incumbent president's allied group, stated: “No one wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in a dark cell. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We wish him to receive proper care – but dignified handling behind bars. He can’t carry on being his personal jailer for his entire life.”
The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time applauding the harsh treatment of prisoners, had unexpectedly become aware to their entitlements. “Just now has the conservative fringe – which has repeatedly asserted that basic rights are not for lawbreakers – chosen to inspect a penitentiary to discover what conditions are truly like,” he said.
“He is a offender,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he merited “degrading, demeaning handling”.
Possible Incarceration Environment
Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which now houses about fourteen thousand inmates, his more likely assigned facility seems to be a close jail for police officers and other “particular” detainees referred to as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).
His potential cell are far more pleasant than those in the larger jail, although still a distant from the comfort Bolsonaro enjoyed while residing in the stunning presidential palace, about 20 kilometers away.
Based on sources, the cell Bolsonaro could anticipate inhabit in Papudinha measures about 24 sq metres – about the size of two parking spaces – and contains a 12 square meter bathroom with a water facility and a 12 sq metre balcony. “Bolsonaro would be authorized to have a TV and also a minibar in his quarters as long as they were provided by his loved ones,” sources suggested.
Political Comments
He denounced 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 decide his fate in the {