Jailhouse Surprise: The FormerPresident Bolsonaro Confronts Time in Prison
He battled justice and the law triumphed.
A couple of months subsequent to getting a 27-year sentence for trying to “destroy” Brazil’s democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last appears headed to prison.
Expected Incarceration
The convicted coup-monger – who had been subject to residential detention in his residence while a set of court processes and petitions play out – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the near future, amidst mounting talk that he will be transferred to a infamous maximum security facility.
Historical Remarks on Prisoners
During Bolsonaro’s four-decade public life, the right-wing former paratrooper exhibited little sympathy for the country's inmates.
“Why should we offer those scoundrels a good life?” he once pondered. “They ought to simply be fucked, period. That's my opinion.”
At another time, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Unless you desire to end up there, you simply need is not rape, kidnap or rob.”
Jail Location Debate
Yet the idea of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda high-security prison in Brasília has horrified supporters, a group of four this week inspected the complex in an apparent attempt to prevent the supreme court from banishing him there.
Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was one of the visitors, said he expected the 70-year-old leader to be jailed in the following week and a half and feared his destination could be Papuda.
The senator argued Bolsonaro’s severe digestive issues – the result of a near-fatal stabbing during the last election race – signified it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His [health] situation is very grave. He won’t be able to cope if they move him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he added, who also expressed concern about cramped cells and the condition of prison meals.
While visiting Papuda, Lucas noted seeing cells holding four dozen detainees: “That’s practically one meter squared per inmate.
“We talked to the convicts and they grumble, unsurprisingly, of the terrible food,” remarked the senator.
Supporters React
The senator isn't the only voice voicing opinions prior to the former president’s predicted detention.
Penning in a prominent newspaper, a different supporter, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” time in office and alleged Brazil was about to experience “the largest unfairness in its past”.
“It represents an unfairness that eats away the souls of countless of Brazilians,” he stated.
Mixed General Response
That may be accurate considering the significant following Bolsonaro maintains on the right-wing. Yet his anticipated jailing has also gladdened the feelings of millions other people who believe he deserves to be incarcerated for plotting to prevent the elected leader from taking power – and even conspiring to have him assassinated.
The lawmaker, a politician for the incumbent administration's allied group, commented: “No one desires Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be put in segregation. No one wants Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to lie on concrete. We desire him to obtain dignified treatment – but respectful care in prison. He must not continue being his own prison warden for his entire life.”
Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro allies, who have long applauding the harsh conditions of inmates, had unexpectedly become aware to their rights. “Just now has the extreme right – which has repeatedly claimed that human rights were not for offenders – opted to visit a prison to learn what conditions are truly like,” he stated.
“Bolsonaro is a criminal,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, demeaning treatment”.
Possible Jail Environment
Regardless of talk that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which presently holds about 14,000 detainees, his expected destination appears to be a close jail for officers and other “special” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).
Its cells are much more pleasant than those in the main prison, although nonetheless a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro enjoyed while living in the impressive official residence, approximately a short distance away.
According to information, the accommodation Bolsonaro could expect to inhabit in Papudinha has about 24 square meters – approximately the dimensions of vehicle spaces – and features a 12 sq metre restroom with a water facility and a 130 square foot balcony. “He could be authorized to have a set and even a small fridge in his room as long as they were supplied by his loved ones,” the report indicated.
Ideological Responses
Senator Lucas condemned the talked-about plan to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of revenge” on the part of the judicial authority who oversaw Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will determine his outcome in the {