Prison Shock: The Ex-President Bolsonaro Faces Time Behind Bars
He contested justice and justice won.
Sixty days after getting a twenty-seven-year sentence for attempting to “destroy” Brazil’s democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro at last seems headed to prison.
Expected Jailing
The found-guilty plotter – who has been living under home confinement in his estate while a series of legal procedures and petitions play out – is broadly anticipated to be imprisoned in the next few days, amid mounting talk that he will be sent to a notorious maximum security facility.
Previous Comments on Prisoners
During Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the right-wing former soldier displayed minimal compassion for the country's prison population.
“For what reason must we provide these lowlifes a easy time?” he once mused. “They ought to simply be fucked, period. That’s what I reckon.”
In another instance, Bolsonaro declared: “Should you not wish to wind up in prison, the only thing required is not rape, kidnap or theft.”
Prison Destination Discussion
However the idea of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, a group of four this week toured the facility in an apparent bid to dissuade the supreme court from sending him there.
The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s political party who was among that group, said he expected the septuagenarian figure to be imprisoned in the following week and a half and worried his destination could be Papuda.
He asserted Bolsonaro’s severe digestive issues – the result of a life-threatening knife attack during the 2018 presidential political campaign – signified it would be hazardous to keep the former president there. “His [health] situation is highly critical. He will not be able to manage if they send him to Papuda … It would be dreadful,” he added, who also worried about cramped cells and the standard of jail cuisine.
During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells holding forty detainees: “That is practically one square metre per inmate.
“We spoke to the inmates and they grumble, of course, of the terrible food,” remarked the senator.
Supporters React
He is not the sole person expressing views prior to the one-time head of state's expected incarceration.
Authoring in a leading daily, another ally, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “brutal” end to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” political career and alleged Brazil was about to experience “the largest political injustice in its past”.
“It is an unfairness that eats away the spirits of millions Brazilian citizens,” Wajngarten wrote.
Varied Popular Reaction
It is possibly true considering the considerable backing Bolsonaro holds on the conservative side. But his predicted imprisonment has also warmed the hearts of millions other people who think he deserves to be jailed for conspiring to stop the elected leader from taking power – and also plotting to have him murdered.
Congressman Otoni, a representative for the current leader's political party, commented: “No one wants Bolsonaro to be sent in a dark cell. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be sent in segregation. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to lie on concrete. We want him to receive proper care – but proper care behind bars. He can’t carry on being his self-appointed guard for his whole life.”
Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro allies, who have for a long time celebrating the severe treatment of convicts, had suddenly become aware to their rights. “Just now has the far-right – which has consistently asserted that basic rights were not for criminals – opted to inspect a prison to find out what conditions are really like,” he remarked.
“The former president is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he merited “degrading, demeaning handling”.
Likely Incarceration Facilities
In spite of speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently holds about thousands of inmates, his probable location looks to be a nearby penitentiary for police officers and other “special” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).
The accommodations are considerably more pleasant than those in the larger jail, although still a distant from the luxury Bolsonaro had while occupying the spectacular official residence, about a short distance away.
According to sources, the room Bolsonaro could anticipate occupy in Papudinha measures about 24 sq metres – approximately the dimensions of two parking spaces – and features a 12 sq metre restroom with a bathing area and a 12 square meter terrace. “Bolsonaro would be authorized to have a set and additionally a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were provided by his family,” information stated.
Ideological Reactions
The lawmaker condemned the rumoured proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “an act of payback” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will decide his future in the {