Prison Shock: The Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Faces Life in Prison
He contested justice and justice triumphed.
Two months subsequent to being handed a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “destroy” Brazil’s democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro at last seems jail-bound.
Imminent Imprisonment
The found-guilty instigator – who had been living under residential detention in his residence while a set of court processes and petitions proceed – is widely expected to be jailed in the next few days, amidst growing speculation that he will be sent to a well-known maximum security penitentiary.
Historical Comments on Inmates
Over Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the far-right ex- paratrooper displayed scant mercy for the country's inmates.
“What’s the need to offer these dirtbags a good life?” he once mused. “They should just get fucked, full-fucking-stop. That’s what I reckon.”
In another instance, Bolsonaro declared: “Should you not wish to finish in prison, you simply need is to avoid rape, kidnap or rob.”
Incarceration Destination Discussion
However the prospect of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda high-security prison in Brasília has shocked allies, a group of four this week visited the complex in an apparent bid to discourage the high court from banishing him there.
Izalci Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, stated he expected the septuagenarian figure to be jailed in the following week and a half and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.
Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal issues – the outcome of a near-fatal knife attack during the last presidential campaign – implied it would be risky to keep the one-time head of state there. “His condition is very grave. He cannot to manage if they take him to Papuda … It could be awful,” he commented, who also worried about overcrowded cells and the standard of prison meals.
During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered witnessing cells holding four dozen detainees: “That’s virtually one meter squared per inmate.
“We spoke to the inmates and they protest, naturally, of the terrible meals,” added the senator.
Allies Speak Out
The senator isn't the only voice voicing opinions ahead of the ex-leader's anticipated imprisonment.
Writing in a leading daily, a different supporter, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “severe” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” time in office and claimed Brazil was about to experience “the biggest political injustice in its history”.
“It is an injustice that gnaws the souls of millions Brazilian citizens,” the former minister said.
Varied General Opinion
This could be true due to the considerable backing Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. But his expected incarceration has also warmed the hearts of millions other people who think he ought to be jailed for plotting to prevent the elected leader from becoming president – and even plotting to have him killed.
Congressman Otoni, a politician for the incumbent president's political party, commented: “Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be put in a dark cell. No one wants Bolsonaro to be placed in segregation. 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 dignified treatment in prison. He must not persist being his personal jailer for his whole life.”
Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have spent years celebrating the tough conditions of inmates, had abruptly realized to their privileges. “Just now has the extreme right – which has consistently claimed that human rights should not be for lawbreakers – chosen to inspect a prison to learn what circumstances are really like,” he said.
“Bolsonaro is a criminal,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he merited “degrading, degrading treatment”.
Potential Prison Conditions
Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which now contains about fourteen thousand inmates, his probable assigned facility appears to be a nearby jail for law enforcement and other “unique” detainees referred to as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).
Its cells are far more adequate than those in the main prison, although still a world away from the luxury Bolsonaro enjoyed while living in the spectacular official residence, approximately 20 kilometers away.
As per reports, the cell Bolsonaro could likely reside in in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – approximately the dimensions of two parking spaces – and features a 130 square foot restroom with a shower and a 12 square meter veranda. “Bolsonaro would be permitted to have a set and even a minibar in his cell as long as they were provided by his family,” the report suggested.
Partisan Responses
The lawmaker condemned the speculated plan to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who oversaw Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his outcome in the {