Prison Surprise: Brazil's FormerPresident Bolsonaro Faces Time Behind Bars
He contested the legal system and justice triumphed.
A couple of months following receiving a 27-year sentence for trying to “destroy” Brazil’s democracy, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro now looks destined for incarceration.
Anticipated Jailing
The convicted instigator – who has been subject to house arrest in his residence while a number of judicial steps and challenges proceed – is largely predicted to be imprisoned in the coming days, amid increasing talk that he will be transferred to a notorious top-security prison.
Previous Statements on Prisoners
Throughout Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the far-right ex- soldier exhibited little sympathy for Brazil’s inmates.
“For what reason must we give those scoundrels a easy time?” he previously wondered. “They should just get screwed, period. That's my opinion.”
At another time, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “If you don’t want to end up there, the only thing required is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or rob.”
Incarceration Facility Discussion
But the possibility of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, several of whom this week toured the facility in an apparent effort to dissuade the supreme court from sending him there.
The senator, a politician from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was part of that quartet, stated he predicted the 70-year-old figure to be incarcerated in the coming fortnight and feared his destination could be Papuda.
Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal ailments – the outcome of a life-threatening stabbing during the 2018 presidential political campaign – signified it would be hazardous to keep the former president there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He will not be able to handle it if they take him to Papuda … It could be dreadful,” said the senator, who also voiced anxiety about packed cells and the standard of jail cuisine.
During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells holding four dozen inmates: “That’s practically one square meter per prisoner.
“We spoke to the prisoners and they complain, naturally, of the horrible food,” added the senator.
Allies React
Lucas is not the lone figure voicing opinions before the former president’s expected imprisonment.
Penning in a prominent newspaper, a different supporter, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “brutal” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” political career and asserted Brazil was about to experience “the largest unfairness in its history”.
“This is an wrong that gnaws the souls of millions Brazilian citizens,” Wajngarten wrote.
Divided Public Response
It is possibly correct given the substantial following Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. Yet his expected imprisonment has also warmed the feelings of numerous individuals who think he should be imprisoned for planning to stop the elected leader from assuming office – and also plotting to have him assassinated.
The lawmaker, a congressman for the current leader's allied group, said: “No one desires Bolsonaro to be put in a dungeon. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be placed in solitary confinement. No one wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We wish him to get dignified handling – but respectful treatment in prison. He can’t continue being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”
Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long applauding the harsh conditions of convicts, had suddenly woken up to their rights. “Just now has the conservative fringe – which has consistently argued that civil liberties are not for lawbreakers – opted to tour a penitentiary to discover what conditions are really like,” he said.
“He is a criminal,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, demeaning treatment”.
Likely Prison Environment
Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which now holds about fourteen thousand inmates, his probable destination seems to be a nearby prison for law enforcement and other “unique” inmates known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).
Its cells are considerably more pleasant than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a far cry from the opulence Bolsonaro had while occupying the spectacular presidential palace, approximately 20 kilometers away.
As per sources, the accommodation Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha is about 260 square feet – about the size of a couple of car spots – and features a 130 square foot restroom with a water facility and a 130 square foot terrace. “The ex-president might be authorized to have a set and additionally a minibar in his room as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” the report suggested.
Political Responses
The lawmaker denounced the talked-about idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “an act of revenge” on the part of the judicial authority who oversaw Bolsonaro’s legal case and will rule on his fate in the {