Prison Shock: The Ex-President Bolsonaro Faces Time in Prison
He battled the legal system and justice won.
A couple of months following getting a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “eradicate” Brazil’s democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro at last appears jail-bound.
Anticipated Imprisonment
The found-guilty plotter – who has been subject to house arrest in his estate while a set of legal procedures and appeals unfold – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the coming days, amid growing speculation that he will be transferred to a notorious maximum security prison.
Previous Comments on Inmates
Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade political career, the far-right ex- paratrooper showed minimal mercy for the country's jailed individuals.
“For what reason must we provide those scoundrels a good life?” he once pondered. “They should just get screwed, end of story. That’s what I reckon.”
At another time, Bolsonaro stated: “Should you not wish to finish behind bars, you simply need is not sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”
Jail Location Debate
Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked supporters, four of whom this week inspected the prison in an apparent bid to dissuade the high court from transferring him there.
Izalci Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s political party who was one of the visitors, stated he expected the 70-year-old figure to be incarcerated in the following week and a half and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.
Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal issues – the outcome of a almost deadly assault during the last election race – implied it would be hazardous to keep the former president there. “His condition is extremely serious. He will not be able to handle it if they move him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” said the senator, who also expressed concern about cramped cells and the quality of jail cuisine.
When inspecting Papuda, Lucas remembered seeing cells accommodating four dozen inmates: “It's almost one square meter per prisoner.
“We conversed to the convicts and they protest, unsurprisingly, of the awful cuisine,” remarked the senator.
Allies React
The senator isn't the lone figure voicing opinions prior to the former president’s expected imprisonment.
Penning in a prominent daily, another ally, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” public service and alleged Brazil was about to experience “the greatest political injustice in its record”.
“It represents an injustice that erodes the spirits of millions Brazilian citizens,” the former minister said.
Mixed Public Opinion
It is possibly correct considering the considerable following Bolsonaro retains on the conservative side. But his anticipated incarceration has also pleased the spirits of numerous others who believe he ought to be imprisoned for plotting to prevent his successor from assuming office – and additionally conspiring to have him killed.
Congressman Otoni, a representative for the sitting president's political party, commented: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a dungeon. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. No one desires Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to lie on concrete. We desire him to obtain respectful care – but respectful handling while incarcerated. He can’t continue being his own prison warden for his lifetime.”
The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years celebrating the harsh treatment of inmates, had abruptly become aware to their rights. “Just now has the conservative fringe – which has always asserted that basic rights were not for criminals – decided to inspect a prison to discover what circumstances are truly like,” he said.
“He is a offender,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he earned “degrading, insulting conduct”.
Potential Incarceration Conditions
Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which presently contains about thousands of inmates, his expected location seems to be a adjacent penitentiary for law enforcement and other “special” inmates known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).
The accommodations are much more pleasant than those in the main prison, although nonetheless a far cry from the luxury Bolsonaro had while residing in the stunning leader's home, about a short distance away.
According to reports, the room Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha is about 260 square feet – about the dimensions of two parking spaces – and contains a 12 sq metre restroom with a water facility and a 130 square foot terrace. “Bolsonaro would be allowed to have a television and additionally a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were donated by his relatives,” the report suggested.
Political Comments
He denounced the speculated plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “an act of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who oversaw Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will determine his fate in the {