Prison Shock: Brazil's Ex-President Bolsonaro Confronts Time Behind Bars
He battled justice and the law triumphed.
A couple of months subsequent to receiving a quarter-century plus sentence for attempting to “destroy” Brazil’s political system, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now seems destined for incarceration.
Expected Imprisonment
The adjudicated plotter – who had been under house arrest in his mansion while a series of judicial steps and challenges unfold – is broadly anticipated to be jailed in the near future, amidst mounting rumors that he will be moved to a notorious top-security penitentiary.
Previous Statements on Convicts
Over Bolsonaro’s long political career, the far-right former paratrooper exhibited scant sympathy for the country's jailed individuals.
“Why should we offer those lowlifes a easy time?” he previously wondered. “They should just get fucked, full-fucking-stop. That’s what I reckon.”
On another occasion, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “If you don’t want to end up there, the only thing required is to avoid rape, kidnap or rob.”
Incarceration Location Debate
However the prospect of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda high-security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, four of whom this week toured the facility in an obvious effort to discourage the high court from banishing him there.
Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, said he expected the elderly leader to be imprisoned in the coming fortnight and worried his destination could be Papuda.
He asserted Bolsonaro’s serious intestinal ailments – the consequence of a life-threatening stabbing during the 2018 presidential campaign – meant it would be hazardous to keep the former president there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He cannot to handle it if they take him to Papuda … It could be dreadful,” he added, who also worried about cramped cells and the quality of prison meals.
During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells containing four dozen prisoners: “It's virtually one meter squared per detainee.
“We talked to the inmates and they complain, unsurprisingly, of the horrible meals,” added the senator.
Supporters Voice Concerns
The senator isn't the only voice voicing opinions before the former president’s predicted detention.
Penning in a leading daily, one more backer, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” political career and claimed Brazil was about to see “the biggest unfairness in its record”.
“It represents an wrong that eats away the spirits of millions Brazilian citizens,” he stated.
Divided Public Opinion
That may be accurate due to the considerable backing Bolsonaro maintains on the conservative side. But his predicted imprisonment has also pleased the feelings of millions others who think he deserves to be incarcerated for planning to stop the elected leader from taking power – and even conspiring to have him killed.
Congressman Otoni, a representative for the incumbent leader's political party, said: “Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be placed in a hole. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. No one desires Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We want him to get dignified care – but proper treatment in prison. He must not continue being his own prison warden for his whole life.”
He observed how Bolsonaro allies, who have long celebrating the severe treatment of prisoners, had unexpectedly realized to their rights. “Only now has the conservative fringe – which has always argued that basic rights are not for lawbreakers – opted to tour a penitentiary to learn what situations are really like,” he remarked.
“He is a criminal,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he earned “shameful, degrading handling”.
Likely Prison Facilities
In spite of rumors that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which presently holds about fourteen thousand inmates, his more likely assigned facility appears to be a close jail for officers and other “unique” inmates referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).
Its cells are far more pleasant than those in the primary facility, although nevertheless a far cry from the luxury Bolsonaro had while living in the impressive presidential palace, approximately 20 kilometers away.
As per reports, the room Bolsonaro could expect to reside in in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – about the size of vehicle spaces – and includes a 12 square meter bathroom with a water facility and a 12 sq metre terrace. “The ex-president might be allowed to have a television and also a cooler in his room as long as they were donated by his relatives,” information indicated.
Partisan Comments
Senator Lucas denounced the speculated proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of revenge” on the part of the supreme court judge who presided over Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will rule on his future in the {