Jailhouse Shock: Brazil's Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Time Behind Bars
He battled justice and justice triumphed.
Sixty days after getting a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “destroy” Brazil’s political system, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last seems headed to prison.
Imminent Incarceration
The adjudicated instigator – who's been living under home confinement in his mansion while a series of legal procedures and appeals play out – is largely predicted to be jailed in the coming days, amidst growing speculation that he will be transferred to a well-known maximum security penitentiary.
Previous Comments on Convicts
Over Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the conservative ex- military man exhibited scant compassion for Brazil’s prison population.
“Why should we provide those dirtbags a good life?” he once pondered. “They ought to simply be fucked, period. That's my opinion.”
On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “If you don’t want to end up in prison, the only thing required is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”
Jail Location Debate
However the prospect of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, several of whom this week visited the facility in an obvious effort to dissuade the high court from sending him there.
The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was among that group, claimed he predicted the 70-year-old figure to be imprisoned in the following week and a half and worried his destination could be Papuda.
The senator argued Bolsonaro’s severe digestive issues – the outcome of a near-fatal knife attack during the last presidential campaign – signified it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His condition is highly critical. He cannot to manage if they send him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he commented, who also expressed concern about packed cells and the quality of jail cuisine.
While visiting Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells containing 40 detainees: “It's practically one square meter per detainee.
“We conversed to the prisoners and they protest, naturally, of the horrible cuisine,” remarked the senator.
Allies Voice Concerns
Lucas is not the lone figure speaking out prior to the ex-leader's predicted imprisonment.
Penning in a major newspaper, another ally, the ex- communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to witness “the greatest political injustice in its history”.
“This is an injustice that gnaws the spirits of millions of Brazilians,” the former minister said.
Varied Public Reaction
This could be correct considering the substantial support Bolsonaro holds on the right-wing. However his expected imprisonment has also pleased the feelings of many others who feel he ought to be incarcerated for conspiring to block the elected leader from becoming president – and additionally conspiring to have him assassinated.
Reimont Otoni, a politician for the current administration's Workers’ party, commented: “Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be sent in a dark cell. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be placed in segregation. No one wants Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We wish him to get respectful handling – but dignified care in prison. He must not continue being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”
The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time praising the severe treatment of prisoners, had abruptly woken up to their privileges. “Recently has the conservative fringe – which has repeatedly claimed that human rights should not be for criminals – opted to inspect a penitentiary to learn what conditions are actually like,” he said.
“He is a criminal,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he merited “degrading, insulting treatment”.
Possible Incarceration Environment
Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which now houses about thousands of inmates, his more likely location looks to be a adjacent penitentiary for police officers and other “particular” inmates known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).
His potential cell are far more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although still a world away from the comfort Bolsonaro experienced while residing in the impressive presidential palace, about 12 miles away.
As per information, the accommodation Bolsonaro could expect to inhabit in Papudinha has about 24 square meters – approximately the area of a couple of car spots – and features a 130 square foot bathroom with a bathing area and a 12 sq metre balcony. “The ex-president might be permitted to have a television and additionally a cooler in his cell as long as they were donated by his relatives,” the report indicated.
Ideological Comments
Senator Lucas criticized the talked-about proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of retaliation” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will determine his future in the {