Jailhouse Shock: The Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Life in Prison
He contested justice and the law won.
Sixty days following getting a quarter-century plus sentence for seeking to “eradicate” the nation's democratic institutions, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro at last looks jail-bound.
Expected Incarceration
The convicted instigator – who had been subject to residential detention in his mansion while a series of court processes and appeals unfold – is largely predicted to be jailed in the coming days, during increasing speculation that he will be moved to a notorious high-security prison.
Previous Statements on Inmates
Throughout Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the conservative ex- paratrooper showed minimal sympathy for the country's inmates.
“What’s the need to give these dirtbags a easy time?” he once pondered. “They deserve to be messed, full-fucking-stop. That’s what I reckon.”
At another time, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Should you not wish to finish behind bars, the only thing required is to avoid rape, kidnap or theft.”
Prison Destination Speculation
However the possibility of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked allies, several of whom this week visited the complex in an seeming bid to prevent the supreme court from banishing him there.
Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was part of that quartet, claimed he anticipated the septuagenarian figure to be imprisoned in the following week and a half and was concerned his assigned prison could be Papuda.
He asserted Bolsonaro’s severe intestinal ailments – the outcome of a near-fatal stabbing during the last political campaign – implied it would be dangerous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He won’t be able to cope if they take him to Papuda … It could be awful,” he added, who also expressed concern about packed cells and the condition of inmate food.
While visiting Papuda, Lucas noted witnessing cells containing forty inmates: “That’s practically one square meter per prisoner.
“We conversed to the inmates and they protest, unsurprisingly, of the awful food,” added the senator.
Allies Speak Out
The senator isn't the only voice speaking out prior to the ex-leader's anticipated incarceration.
Writing in a leading newspaper, a different supporter, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “harsh” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” political career and claimed Brazil was about to witness “the biggest unfairness in its history”.
“This is an wrong that gnaws the hearts of millions people in Brazil,” the former minister said.
Varied Public Reaction
This could be accurate considering the significant backing Bolsonaro holds on the conservative side. Yet his expected jailing has also gladdened the spirits of numerous other people who believe he deserves to be incarcerated for conspiring to block his successor from assuming office – and also conspiring to have him killed.
The lawmaker, a congressman for the incumbent administration's Workers’ party, said: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in a dungeon. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We wish him to receive dignified care – but proper treatment behind bars. He can’t carry on being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”
He observed how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time celebrating the harsh conditions of convicts, had abruptly woken up to their entitlements. “Recently has the far-right – which has consistently asserted that civil liberties are not for lawbreakers – chosen to visit a prison to learn what situations are truly like,” he remarked.
“He is a offender,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he earned “humiliating, degrading handling”.
Potential Prison Facilities
Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now contains about 14,000 detainees, his expected location seems to be a close jail for police officers and other “special” detainees referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).
The accommodations are far more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro enjoyed while occupying the impressive presidential palace, about 20 kilometers away.
As per information, the room Bolsonaro could expect to inhabit in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – roughly the dimensions of vehicle spaces – and contains a 12 sq metre WC with a water facility and a 130 square foot terrace. “He could be permitted to have a TV and even a cooler in his room as long as they were donated by his family,” sources suggested.
Partisan Comments
Senator Lucas condemned the rumoured proposal to send the former leader to Papuda as “a type of retaliation” on the part of the judicial authority who led Bolsonaro’s legal case and will decide his fate in the {