Jailhouse Shock: Brazil's FormerPresident Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Life in Prison
He contested the legal system and the legal system won.
Two months after being handed a twenty-seven-year sentence for trying to “destroy” the nation's democracy, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro now appears jail-bound.
Anticipated Jailing
The convicted plotter – who has been under house arrest in his estate while a number of legal procedures and petitions unfold – is widely expected to be jailed in the coming days, amidst growing rumors that he will be transferred to a well-known high-security penitentiary.
Previous Remarks on Prisoners
During Bolsonaro’s four-decade political career, the far-right ex- soldier exhibited scant sympathy for Brazil’s jailed individuals.
“For what reason must we provide those dirtbags a good life?” he once mused. “They deserve to be fucked, full-fucking-stop. That’s what I reckon.”
At another time, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to wind up there, all you have to do is not sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”
Incarceration Location Discussion
But the idea of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, a group of four this week visited the facility in an seeming attempt to discourage the supreme court from transferring him there.
Senator Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was one of the visitors, claimed he expected the septuagenarian figure to be jailed in the following week and a half and feared his destination could be Papuda.
He asserted Bolsonaro’s serious digestive issues – the result of a near-fatal knife attack during the 2018 presidential campaign – signified it would be dangerous to keep the ex-leader there. “His condition is highly critical. He will not be able to handle it if they send him to Papuda … It would be awful,” he commented, who also expressed concern about overcrowded cells and the standard of jail cuisine.
During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells holding forty inmates: “That is virtually one square meter per detainee.
“We conversed to the inmates and they grumble, unsurprisingly, of the awful meals,” remarked the senator.
Allies React
The senator isn't the lone figure expressing views before the former president’s expected incarceration.
Authoring in a major publication, another ally, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “harsh” end to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” time in office and alleged Brazil was about to witness “the biggest unfairness in its record”.
“It is an unfairness that eats away the spirits of countless of Brazilians,” Wajngarten wrote.
Varied Popular Opinion
This could be accurate considering the significant support Bolsonaro maintains on the conservative side. Yet his expected incarceration has also warmed the spirits of many others who believe he ought to be incarcerated for plotting to prevent the incoming president from becoming president – and even conspiring to have him assassinated.
The lawmaker, a representative for the incumbent president's Workers’ party, commented: “No one wants Bolsonaro to be sent in a dark cell. No one desires Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We desire him to obtain proper handling – but respectful treatment while incarcerated. He must not carry on being his self-appointed guard for his whole life.”
The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years praising the tough handling of inmates, had unexpectedly realized to their privileges. “Only now has the conservative fringe – which has always asserted that human rights were not for criminals – chosen to inspect a prison to find out what situations are actually like,” he remarked.
“The former president is a lawbreaker,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he merited “shameful, degrading handling”.
Potential Prison Facilities
Despite rumors that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently holds about thousands of detainees, his expected assigned facility seems to be a nearby jail for police officers and other “special” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).
The accommodations are far more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although still a distant from the luxury Bolsonaro had while occupying the spectacular leader's home, about a short distance away.
As per information, the cell Bolsonaro could expect to reside in in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – roughly the dimensions of a couple of car spots – and includes a 12 square meter restroom with a shower and a 130 square foot balcony. “The ex-president might be authorized to have a TV and also a small fridge in his room as long as they were provided by his family,” information stated.
Partisan Reactions
The lawmaker criticized the speculated plan to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of revenge” on the part of the supreme court judge who oversaw Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will determine his future in the {