Prison Surprise: Brazil's FormerPresident Bolsonaro Confronts Time Behind Bars
He battled the legal system and justice prevailed.
Two months after receiving a twenty-seven-year sentence for attempting to “eradicate” Brazil’s democratic institutions, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro at last seems headed to prison.
Imminent Imprisonment
The convicted instigator – who has been living under residential detention in his residence while a set of legal procedures and challenges unfold – is largely predicted to be incarcerated in the next few days, amid increasing rumors that he will be sent to a notorious maximum security facility.
Historical Statements on Prisoners
Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade political career, the right-wing former paratrooper showed little mercy for Brazil’s inmates.
“Why should we provide these lowlifes a good life?” he once pondered. “They deserve to be messed, full-fucking-stop. That’s what I reckon.”
On another occasion, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “If you don’t want to end up there, you simply need is not sexual assault, abduction or theft.”
Incarceration Location Discussion
Yet the idea of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has horrified backers, four of whom this week inspected the complex in an apparent bid to prevent the supreme court from sending him there.
Izalci Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was part of that quartet, said he expected the 70-year-old politician to be jailed in the next 10 days and feared his destination could be Papuda.
The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute digestive issues – the consequence of a almost deadly assault during the 2018 presidential election race – implied it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His condition is extremely serious. He won’t be able to cope if they move him to Papuda … It would be awful,” he commented, who also expressed concern about packed cells and the condition of prison meals.
During his tour Papuda, Lucas noted observing cells holding 40 inmates: “That’s virtually one square meter per prisoner.
“We conversed to the convicts and they complain, of course, of the terrible food,” added the senator.
Backers React
He is not the lone figure voicing opinions before the one-time head of state's anticipated imprisonment.
Penning in a leading publication, another ally, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and claimed Brazil was about to see “the largest unfairness in its past”.
“This is an injustice that eats away the souls of millions Brazilian citizens,” the former minister said.
Varied General Opinion
It is possibly correct considering the significant backing Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. But his expected incarceration has also gladdened the hearts of many others who feel he should be jailed for planning to prevent the incoming president from becoming president – and even conspiring to have him assassinated.
Reimont Otoni, a politician for the current leader's political party, commented: “Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. No one desires Bolsonaro to be put in isolation. Nobody wants Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We wish him to get proper care – but proper treatment in prison. He can’t carry on being his own prison warden for his lifetime.”
Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long applauding the severe handling of inmates, had suddenly realized to their rights. “Only now has the extreme right – which has consistently claimed that basic rights were not for criminals – chosen to visit a prison to learn what conditions are actually like,” he remarked.
“Bolsonaro is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he earned “shameful, insulting handling”.
Possible Jail Facilities
In spite of rumors that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which currently holds about thousands of detainees, his expected assigned facility seems to be a nearby prison for officers and other “special” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).
The accommodations are much more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nevertheless a far cry from the comfort Bolsonaro had while occupying the spectacular presidential palace, around 20 kilometers away.
Based on reports, the accommodation Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha measures about 24 sq metres – about the area of a couple of car spots – and contains a 12 sq metre bathroom with a shower and a 130 square foot balcony. “He could be allowed to have a set and also a small fridge in his room as long as they were provided by his loved ones,” sources stated.
Partisan Reactions
He criticized the speculated idea to send the former leader to Papuda as “a type of payback” on the part of the judicial authority who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will decide his future in the {