Jailhouse Shock: The FormerPresident Bolsonaro Confronts Time Behind Bars
He fought the legal system and the law triumphed.
Sixty days subsequent to receiving a 27-year sentence for seeking to “annihilate” the nation's political system, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro at last looks jail-bound.
Anticipated Incarceration
The found-guilty plotter – who has been living under house arrest in his estate while a number of legal procedures and challenges unfold – is broadly anticipated to be jailed in the next few days, amidst mounting speculation that he will be transferred to a notorious top-security prison.
Past Comments on Inmates
During Bolsonaro’s four-decade political career, the right-wing ex- military man displayed little compassion for Brazil’s jailed individuals.
“For what reason must we provide these dirtbags a easy time?” he once mused. “They deserve to be screwed, period. That's my opinion.”
On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to finish behind bars, the only thing required is to avoid rape, abduction or theft.”
Incarceration Facility Discussion
Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has appalled supporters, four of whom this week toured the prison in an seeming effort to discourage the supreme court from banishing him there.
Senator Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was one of the visitors, claimed he anticipated the septuagenarian politician to be incarcerated in the coming fortnight and was concerned his location could be Papuda.
Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal ailments – the outcome of a almost deadly stabbing during the 2018 presidential presidential campaign – implied it would be hazardous to keep the former president there. “His health is extremely serious. He will not be able to handle it if they take him to Papuda … It could be awful,” he commented, who also expressed concern about overcrowded cells and the condition of inmate food.
While visiting Papuda, Lucas remembered seeing cells accommodating forty prisoners: “That’s virtually one meter squared per detainee.
“We talked to the inmates and they protest, naturally, of the terrible food,” remarked the senator.
Backers Speak Out
Lucas is not the only voice expressing views before the ex-leader's anticipated imprisonment.
Writing in a major newspaper, one more backer, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “harsh” end to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” public service and alleged Brazil was about to witness “the greatest political injustice in its record”.
“This is an unfairness that gnaws the spirits of countless Brazilian citizens,” the former minister said.
Divided General Response
It is possibly true given the substantial backing Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. But his predicted incarceration has also gladdened the hearts of millions individuals who feel he should be incarcerated for planning to prevent the elected leader from assuming office – and also scheming to have him killed.
Reimont Otoni, a politician for the incumbent leader's political party, commented: “Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. No one wants Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We want him to receive respectful treatment – but respectful treatment in prison. He must not continue being his own prison warden for his entire life.”
Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro backers, who have long celebrating the harsh treatment of inmates, had unexpectedly become aware to their privileges. “Only now has the conservative fringe – which has consistently claimed that human rights were not for lawbreakers – decided to visit a prison to learn what conditions are really like,” he stated.
“He is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he merited “degrading, degrading handling”.
Possible Prison Facilities
In spite of talk that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which presently holds about thousands of detainees, his expected assigned facility looks to be a nearby penitentiary for police officers and other “special” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Small Papuda).
The accommodations are much more pleasant than those in the main prison, although nevertheless a far cry from the luxury Bolsonaro enjoyed while residing in the impressive leader's home, approximately a short distance away.
According to information, the accommodation Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha is about 24 square meters – approximately the dimensions of a couple of car spots – and contains a 12 sq metre WC with a shower and a 130 square foot terrace. “He could be authorized to have a set and even a small fridge in his room as long as they were donated by his relatives,” sources indicated.
Partisan Comments
Senator Lucas condemned the rumoured proposal to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “an act of payback” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s legal case and will rule on his future in the {