Jailhouse Surprise: The FormerPresident Jair Bolsonaro Faces Life in Prison
He fought the law and the legal system won.
Sixty days following getting a twenty-seven-year sentence for trying to “eradicate” Brazil’s political system, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last seems jail-bound.
Imminent Imprisonment
The found-guilty coup-monger – who's been under residential detention in his estate while a set of court processes and challenges unfold – is largely predicted to be jailed in the next few days, amidst increasing talk that he will be transferred to a well-known high-security penitentiary.
Past Comments on Convicts
Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade political career, the conservative ex- paratrooper exhibited little compassion for the country's inmates.
“Why should we give these scoundrels a comfortable existence?” he once pondered. “They deserve to be fucked, full-fucking-stop. That's my view.”
On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to finish there, you simply need is not sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”
Jail Facility Discussion
But the prospect of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, four of whom this week toured the facility in an apparent bid to prevent the judiciary from transferring him there.
Izalci Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was among that group, claimed he anticipated the elderly politician to be jailed in the following week and a half and was concerned his location could be Papuda.
He asserted Bolsonaro’s serious intestinal issues – the outcome of a near-fatal knife attack during the 2018 presidential election race – implied it would be risky to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is extremely serious. He will not be able to manage if they take him to Papuda … It would be dreadful,” he commented, who also worried about cramped cells and the standard of inmate food.
While visiting Papuda, Lucas recalled witnessing cells containing four dozen detainees: “It's practically one square meter per inmate.
“We spoke to the inmates and they protest, naturally, of the terrible food,” added the senator.
Backers Speak Out
Lucas is not the only voice voicing opinions prior to the one-time head of state's expected imprisonment.
Penning in a leading daily, one more backer, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “severe” end to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to witness “the greatest wrong in its record”.
“This is an wrong that gnaws the spirits of countless people in Brazil,” the former minister said.
Divided General Response
This could be true given the significant support Bolsonaro maintains on the conservative side. But his expected incarceration has also gladdened the feelings of numerous individuals who believe he should be jailed for planning to stop the incoming president from taking power – and even scheming to have him assassinated.
Reimont Otoni, a representative for the current leader's Workers’ party, stated: “Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be placed in a dark cell. No one desires Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to lie on concrete. We want him to obtain respectful handling – but dignified care while incarcerated. He can’t carry on being his self-appointed guard for his lifetime.”
The congressman noted how Bolsonaro supporters, who have spent years praising the severe treatment of prisoners, had abruptly realized to their rights. “Just now has the conservative fringe – which has always asserted that human rights should not be for lawbreakers – chosen to visit a penitentiary to find out what circumstances are really like,” he remarked.
“The former president is a lawbreaker,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he merited “degrading, degrading conduct”.
Possible Incarceration Environment
Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which now contains about thousands of prisoners, his more likely assigned facility appears to be a close prison for law enforcement and other “special” detainees called Papudinha (Minor Papuda).
The accommodations are far more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although nevertheless a far cry from the comfort Bolsonaro had while residing in the spectacular presidential palace, around 20 kilometers away.
Based on sources, the room Bolsonaro could anticipate occupy in Papudinha measures about 24 sq metres – approximately the dimensions of vehicle spaces – and contains a 130 square foot bathroom with a shower and a 12 sq metre veranda. “The ex-president might be allowed to have a TV and even a cooler in his quarters as long as they were provided by his family,” information stated.
Political Reactions
He criticized the rumoured plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “an act of revenge” on the part of the supreme court judge who presided over Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will decide his future in the {