Jailhouse Shock: Brazil's FormerPresident Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Life in Prison
He contested justice and justice won.
Sixty days after receiving a 27-year sentence for seeking to “destroy” the nation's democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro at last appears destined for incarceration.
Imminent Jailing
The found-guilty plotter – who had been subject to residential detention in his mansion while a number of court processes and challenges play out – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the near future, during growing rumors that he will be sent to a infamous top-security prison.
Previous Statements on Prisoners
Throughout Bolsonaro’s long public life, the far-right former paratrooper showed scant mercy for Brazil’s prison population.
“For what reason must we give those dirtbags a good life?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be messed, period. That's my opinion.”
In another instance, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Should you not wish to finish there, the only thing required is not rape, kidnap or theft.”
Prison Facility Speculation
Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has horrified supporters, four of whom this week inspected the prison in an seeming attempt to dissuade the supreme court from transferring him there.
The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s political party who was one of the visitors, stated he predicted the septuagenarian figure to be imprisoned in the following week and a half and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.
He asserted Bolsonaro’s severe gut ailments – the result of a life-threatening knife attack during the last political campaign – meant it would be dangerous to keep the former president there. “His condition is very grave. He will not be able to manage if they take him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he commented, who also expressed concern about cramped cells and the condition of inmate food.
While visiting Papuda, Lucas noted witnessing cells holding four dozen prisoners: “That is practically one square metre per prisoner.
“We conversed to the inmates and they grumble, unsurprisingly, of the terrible cuisine,” added the senator.
Backers Voice Concerns
Lucas is not the only voice expressing views prior to the one-time head of state's expected detention.
Penning in a prominent publication, one more backer, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “severe” end to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” public service and asserted Brazil was about to experience “the greatest unfairness in its record”.
“This is an wrong that eats away the hearts of millions people in Brazil,” the former minister said.
Mixed General Opinion
This could be true due to the substantial backing Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. Yet his anticipated incarceration has also gladdened the spirits of many individuals who think he should be incarcerated for plotting to stop his successor from assuming office – and even scheming to have him assassinated.
The lawmaker, a politician for the incumbent administration's political party, stated: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be placed in segregation. No one wants Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We wish him to receive proper treatment – but proper handling while incarcerated. He must not persist being his personal jailer for his whole life.”
The congressman noted how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long applauding the severe conditions of prisoners, had suddenly become aware to their entitlements. “Only now has the far-right – which has always asserted that human rights were not for lawbreakers – chosen to visit a penitentiary to discover what conditions are actually like,” he said.
“He is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he earned “humiliating, demeaning conduct”.
Likely Incarceration Facilities
Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now houses about 14,000 prisoners, his probable location looks to be a adjacent prison for law enforcement and other “particular” detainees known as Papudinha (Small Papuda).
The accommodations are much more adequate than those in the main prison, although nevertheless a distant from the comfort Bolsonaro had while occupying the spectacular official residence, around 12 miles away.
According to reports, the accommodation Bolsonaro could likely inhabit in Papudinha has about 24 square meters – approximately the dimensions of vehicle spaces – and features a 12 square meter bathroom with a bathing area and a 12 sq metre veranda. “Bolsonaro would be authorized to have a TV and also a cooler in his room as long as they were donated by his family,” the report suggested.
Ideological Reactions
He condemned the speculated proposal to send the former leader to Papuda as “an act of retaliation” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his future in the {