Prison Shock: The FormerPresident Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Time Behind Bars
He contested justice and the law prevailed.
Two months following getting a quarter-century plus sentence for attempting to “eradicate” the nation's political system, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro finally seems destined for incarceration.
Expected Jailing
The convicted plotter – who has been under home confinement in his residence while a number of court processes and petitions unfold – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the near future, amid growing speculation that he will be moved to a notorious maximum security facility.
Previous Remarks on Prisoners
During Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the far-right former military man showed minimal compassion for the country's jailed individuals.
“What’s the need to give these lowlifes a easy time?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be messed, full-fucking-stop. That's my view.”
In another instance, Bolsonaro stated: “If you don’t want to wind up in prison, the only thing required is not sexual assault, kidnap or rob.”
Jail Facility Debate
But the idea of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, a group of four this week visited the prison in an apparent bid to prevent the judiciary from banishing him there.
Izalci Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, claimed he predicted the septuagenarian figure to be incarcerated in the following week and a half and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.
The senator argued Bolsonaro’s serious digestive problems – the outcome of a near-fatal stabbing during the 2018 presidential presidential campaign – signified it would be dangerous to keep the ex-leader there. “His [health] situation is very grave. He will not be able to cope if they take him to Papuda … It will be dreadful,” said the senator, who also worried about cramped cells and the condition of prison meals.
While visiting Papuda, Lucas remembered seeing cells accommodating 40 inmates: “That’s virtually one square metre per detainee.
“We spoke to the prisoners and they complain, unsurprisingly, of the horrible food,” continued the senator.
Supporters Speak Out
He is not the sole person speaking out before the ex-leader's expected incarceration.
Authoring in a prominent newspaper, a different supporter, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and alleged Brazil was about to see “the biggest unfairness in its record”.
“This is an injustice that eats away the souls of millions people in Brazil,” the former minister said.
Mixed General Reaction
That may be true due to the considerable following Bolsonaro maintains on the right-wing. But his predicted incarceration has also warmed the spirits of numerous others who feel he should be imprisoned for planning to stop the elected leader from assuming office – and also plotting to have him killed.
The lawmaker, a representative for the current administration's political party, said: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in a dark cell. No one desires Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. No one desires Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to get respectful treatment – but respectful handling behind bars. He must not continue being his personal jailer for his entire life.”
Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have for a long time celebrating the severe handling of convicts, had abruptly realized to their privileges. “Just now has the extreme right – which has always asserted that human rights should not be for lawbreakers – opted to tour a penitentiary to discover what circumstances are truly like,” he stated.
“Bolsonaro is a offender,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he deserved “degrading, demeaning conduct”.
Potential Jail Environment
In spite of rumors that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now contains about thousands of inmates, his more likely location appears to be a adjacent prison for police officers and other “unique” detainees called Papudinha (Minor Papuda).
Its cells are considerably more comfortable than those in the main prison, although still a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro experienced while living in the impressive presidential palace, about 20 kilometers away.
Based on information, the cell Bolsonaro could anticipate occupy in Papudinha measures about 24 square meters – roughly the area of two parking spaces – and contains a 130 square foot WC with a water facility and a 12 sq metre terrace. “He could be allowed to have a television and additionally a cooler in his cell as long as they were provided by his relatives,” the report suggested.
Partisan Responses
The lawmaker condemned the rumoured idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a type of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his future in the {