Prison Shock: Brazil's Ex-President Bolsonaro Faces Time Behind Bars
He fought justice and the law triumphed.
Sixty days subsequent to receiving a quarter-century plus sentence for seeking to “eradicate” the nation's political system, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro now looks destined for incarceration.
Imminent Incarceration
The found-guilty coup-monger – who had been living under house arrest in his mansion while a number of judicial steps and petitions play out – is broadly anticipated to be imprisoned in the coming days, during mounting talk that he will be transferred to a infamous maximum security prison.
Previous Comments on Convicts
Over Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the conservative former paratrooper displayed minimal mercy for the country's prison population.
“For what reason must we give these scoundrels a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They deserve to be screwed, end of story. That’s what I reckon.”
On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “Should you not wish to wind up behind bars, the only thing required is not rape, abduction or rob.”
Jail Facility Debate
Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has shocked supporters, a group of four this week toured the facility in an seeming attempt to dissuade the judiciary from sending him there.
Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was one of the visitors, said he anticipated the elderly politician to be imprisoned in the next 10 days and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.
Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s acute digestive issues – the result of a life-threatening assault during the last presidential campaign – meant it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His condition is highly critical. He cannot to handle it if they move him to Papuda … It will be awful,” he commented, who also expressed concern about overcrowded cells and the condition of inmate food.
When inspecting Papuda, Lucas remembered witnessing cells holding four dozen detainees: “That’s virtually one square metre per prisoner.
“We conversed to the inmates and they complain, naturally, of the terrible meals,” remarked the senator.
Supporters Voice Concerns
He is not the sole person speaking out prior to the ex-leader's anticipated imprisonment.
Penning in a leading daily, one more backer, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “harsh” end to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” political career and claimed Brazil was about to experience “the biggest unfairness in its history”.
“It is an injustice that eats away the hearts of many Brazilian citizens,” he stated.
Varied Popular Response
That may be correct considering the substantial following Bolsonaro maintains on the conservative side. However his predicted jailing has also gladdened the hearts of many others who believe he deserves to be jailed for planning to block his successor from assuming office – and also conspiring to have him killed.
Reimont Otoni, a representative for the incumbent president's Workers’ party, commented: “No one wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. No one wants Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We desire him to obtain respectful care – but respectful care in prison. He must not persist being his self-appointed guard for his entire life.”
Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time applauding the severe conditions of convicts, had suddenly realized to their rights. “Just now has the far-right – which has repeatedly claimed that human rights were not for offenders – chosen to inspect a jail to discover what situations are truly like,” he said.
“He is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, demeaning treatment”.
Potential Jail Facilities
Despite rumors that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which presently houses about thousands of inmates, his expected location seems to be a adjacent jail for police officers and other “particular” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).
The accommodations are considerably more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although nevertheless a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro experienced while residing in the stunning official residence, about a short distance away.
According to information, the room Bolsonaro could anticipate occupy in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – roughly the dimensions of a couple of car spots – and contains a 130 square foot restroom with a water facility and a 12 square meter balcony. “The ex-president might be allowed to have a set and also a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were donated by his relatives,” information indicated.
Political Comments
He denounced the talked-about proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of revenge” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will rule on his fate in the {