Jailhouse Surprise: The FormerPresident Bolsonaro Confronts Life in Prison
He contested justice and justice prevailed.
Two months following getting a 27-year sentence for seeking to “destroy” Brazil’s political system, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last appears headed to prison.
Imminent Incarceration
The adjudicated coup-monger – who had been living under home confinement in his mansion while a set of court processes and appeals unfold – is widely expected to be imprisoned in the next few days, during mounting speculation that he will be transferred to a infamous top-security penitentiary.
Previous Statements on Prisoners
Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade political career, the right-wing ex- paratrooper showed little sympathy for the country's prison population.
“For what reason must we give these dirtbags a good life?” he once pondered. “They deserve to be fucked, end of story. That’s what I reckon.”
In another instance, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Should you not wish to end up in prison, the only thing required is to avoid rape, abduction or rob.”
Incarceration Destination Debate
Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison high-security prison in Brasília has horrified supporters, a group of four this week inspected the complex in an apparent attempt to prevent the judiciary from transferring him there.
Izalci Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s political party who was among that group, stated he expected the elderly leader to be imprisoned in the next 10 days and was concerned his assigned prison could be Papuda.
Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious digestive issues – the consequence of a life-threatening knife attack during the 2018 presidential campaign – implied it would be dangerous to keep the ex-leader there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He won’t be able to handle it if they move him to Papuda … It will be dreadful,” he commented, who also worried about packed cells and the condition of jail cuisine.
While visiting Papuda, Lucas noted observing cells containing 40 prisoners: “That is almost one meter squared per prisoner.
“We talked to the prisoners and they protest, naturally, of the terrible cuisine,” remarked the senator.
Supporters React
Lucas is not the only voice expressing views before the ex-leader's predicted incarceration.
Writing in a leading newspaper, another ally, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” political career and alleged Brazil was about to experience “the largest political injustice in its past”.
“This is an injustice that gnaws the hearts of millions of Brazilians,” Wajngarten wrote.
Mixed Popular Opinion
That may be correct considering the substantial backing Bolsonaro holds on the conservative side. But his anticipated imprisonment has also pleased the hearts of millions other people who think he ought to be incarcerated for conspiring to stop the elected leader from taking power – and even scheming to have him murdered.
The lawmaker, a congressman for the incumbent administration's political party, stated: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be put in a hole. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. Nobody wants Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to receive proper care – but respectful handling behind bars. He cannot persist being his personal jailer for his entire life.”
Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro allies, who have spent years applauding the tough conditions of convicts, had unexpectedly woken up to their entitlements. “Only now has the extreme right – which has consistently claimed that basic rights are not for lawbreakers – opted to tour a penitentiary to learn what situations are truly like,” he said.
“He is a lawbreaker,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he earned “humiliating, demeaning treatment”.
Possible Incarceration Environment
In spite of talk that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now holds about 14,000 inmates, his more likely assigned facility looks to be a nearby prison for officers and other “unique” inmates referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).
His potential cell are considerably more comfortable than those in the main prison, although nonetheless a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro had while residing in the impressive leader's home, around 20 kilometers away.
As per reports, the accommodation Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – approximately the area of a couple of car spots – and features a 12 square meter WC with a bathing area and a 12 square meter veranda. “Bolsonaro would be permitted to have a television and additionally a cooler in his quarters as long as they were provided by his loved ones,” the report suggested.
Political Responses
The lawmaker denounced the rumoured plan to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of payback” on the part of the judicial authority who presided over Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will decide his outcome in the {