Jailhouse Shock: The Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Life Behind Bars
He contested justice and the legal system won.
A couple of months after being handed a 27-year sentence for trying to “eradicate” Brazil’s political system, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now looks jail-bound.
Expected Jailing
The found-guilty coup-monger – who's been subject to house arrest in his residence while a number of court processes and appeals play out – is broadly anticipated to be imprisoned in the near future, during mounting rumors that he will be moved to a well-known high-security facility.
Previous Remarks on Prisoners
During Bolsonaro’s 40-year political career, the right-wing former military man showed minimal sympathy for Brazil’s inmates.
“Why should we provide those dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he once pondered. “They ought to simply be fucked, end of story. That’s what I reckon.”
On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “Should you not wish to end up there, you simply need is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or rob.”
Jail Location Discussion
But the possibility of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda high-security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, a group of four this week inspected the prison in an apparent effort to discourage the high court from sending him there.
The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was among that group, claimed he predicted the septuagenarian figure to be incarcerated in the coming fortnight and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.
Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious intestinal issues – the consequence of a near-fatal assault during the 2018 presidential political campaign – implied it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His health is very grave. He cannot to manage if they take him to Papuda … It could be terrible,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about overcrowded cells and the standard of prison meals.
During his tour Papuda, Lucas noted witnessing cells holding four dozen inmates: “It's virtually one square meter per inmate.
“We conversed to the inmates and they protest, unsurprisingly, of the horrible meals,” remarked the senator.
Backers Speak Out
He is not the lone figure voicing opinions ahead of the former president’s expected incarceration.
Authoring in a prominent publication, one more backer, the ex- government official Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to see “the largest wrong in its history”.
“This is an unfairness that eats away the hearts of countless Brazilian citizens,” Wajngarten wrote.
Mixed General Response
This could be true given the considerable following Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. However his predicted incarceration has also pleased the spirits of millions other people who feel he should be jailed for conspiring to block the incoming president from assuming office – and also conspiring to have him assassinated.
The lawmaker, a congressman for the incumbent administration's political party, commented: “Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be put in a hole. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be put in segregation. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We wish him to get proper treatment – but respectful handling while incarcerated. He must not continue being his self-appointed guard for his lifetime.”
The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years celebrating the tough handling of inmates, had unexpectedly become aware to their rights. “Only now has the conservative fringe – which has consistently claimed that human rights were not for offenders – chosen to inspect a jail to find out what circumstances are truly like,” he remarked.
“He is a criminal,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he earned “shameful, degrading handling”.
Potential Prison Facilities
In spite of speculation that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which presently contains about fourteen thousand prisoners, his expected destination appears to be a close prison for law enforcement and other “particular” detainees called Papudinha (Little Papuda).
The accommodations are much more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a far cry from the opulence Bolsonaro experienced while residing in the stunning leader's home, around a short distance away.
As per reports, the cell Bolsonaro could expect to inhabit in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – roughly the area of a couple of car spots – and includes a 12 sq metre WC with a water facility and a 130 square foot balcony. “Bolsonaro would be authorized to have a TV and also a small fridge in his room as long as they were donated by his loved ones,” the report suggested.
Political Responses
The lawmaker criticized the talked-about proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of payback” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will determine his fate in the {