Jailhouse Shock: Brazil's Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Faces Time Behind Bars
He battled justice and justice won.
A couple of months after getting a quarter-century plus sentence for seeking to “annihilate” the nation's democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro finally appears jail-bound.
Anticipated Imprisonment
The adjudicated instigator – who had been living under residential detention in his residence while a series of judicial steps and challenges play out – is widely expected to be jailed in the next few days, amidst mounting talk that he will be transferred to a well-known high-security prison.
Past Statements on Convicts
Over Bolsonaro’s 40-year political career, the right-wing former soldier exhibited little sympathy for Brazil’s jailed individuals.
“Why should we give these lowlifes a good life?” he previously wondered. “They ought to simply be messed, full-fucking-stop. That's my view.”
At another time, Bolsonaro stated: “Unless you desire to end up in prison, you simply need is not rape, abduction or rob.”
Prison Location Speculation
Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison high-security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, a group of four this week inspected the complex in an seeming bid to prevent the supreme court from transferring him there.
Senator Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was among that group, claimed he expected the septuagenarian figure to be imprisoned in the following week and a half and was concerned his assigned prison could be Papuda.
Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s severe digestive ailments – the consequence of a almost deadly knife attack during the 2018 presidential presidential campaign – meant it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is very grave. He cannot to handle it if they move him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about packed cells and the standard of jail cuisine.
While visiting Papuda, Lucas recalled witnessing cells holding four dozen prisoners: “That’s virtually one meter squared per prisoner.
“We talked to the prisoners and they complain, of course, of the terrible meals,” remarked the senator.
Supporters Voice Concerns
Lucas is not the lone figure voicing opinions ahead of the one-time head of state's predicted imprisonment.
Authoring in a leading daily, another ally, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “brutal” end to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to experience “the greatest political injustice in its record”.
“It represents an injustice that gnaws the hearts of millions of Brazilians,” the former minister said.
Divided General Reaction
That may be accurate due to the considerable support Bolsonaro holds on the right-wing. Yet his expected imprisonment has also gladdened the spirits of millions others who feel he should be imprisoned for planning to stop his successor from taking power – and even conspiring to have him murdered.
Congressman Otoni, a representative for the sitting leader's Workers’ party, said: “Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be put in a dungeon. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be sent in segregation. No one desires Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We desire him to get proper care – but proper treatment in prison. He cannot continue being his personal jailer for his entire life.”
Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have spent years applauding the tough treatment of convicts, had unexpectedly woken up to their rights. “Recently has the far-right – which has consistently claimed that basic rights should not be for lawbreakers – decided to visit a prison to find out what situations are actually like,” he said.
“Bolsonaro is a criminal,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he earned “degrading, insulting treatment”.
Likely Prison Conditions
In spite of rumors that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which currently contains about fourteen thousand prisoners, his expected location appears to be a nearby jail for law enforcement and other “special” detainees called Papudinha (Little Papuda).
Its cells are much more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nevertheless a distant from the luxury Bolsonaro had while occupying the stunning official residence, about a short distance away.
According to reports, the cell Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – approximately the area of a couple of car spots – and contains a 130 square foot WC with a shower and a 12 sq metre terrace. “Bolsonaro would be permitted to have a set and even a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were donated by his family,” sources stated.
Political Reactions
He condemned the speculated plan to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of retaliation” on the part of the judicial authority who presided over Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will rule on his future in the {