Jailhouse Surprise: The Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Life Behind Bars
He contested the legal system and the law prevailed.
Two months after being handed a quarter-century plus sentence for attempting to “annihilate” Brazil’s democratic institutions, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro now seems jail-bound.
Imminent Imprisonment
The found-guilty instigator – who's been subject to home confinement in his estate while a series of court processes and appeals proceed – is largely predicted to be imprisoned in the near future, during mounting rumors that he will be moved to a well-known high-security facility.
Past Statements on Inmates
During Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the right-wing ex- military man exhibited scant mercy for Brazil’s inmates.
“For what reason must we give these dirtbags a good life?” he once pondered. “They ought to simply be screwed, period. That's my opinion.”
In another instance, Bolsonaro declared: “Should you not wish to end up in prison, all you have to do is to avoid sexual assault, abduction or rob.”
Incarceration Location Debate
However the possibility of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has horrified allies, four of whom this week toured the facility in an apparent effort to dissuade the judiciary from transferring him there.
Senator Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s political party who was among that group, said he predicted the 70-year-old leader to be imprisoned in the next 10 days and was concerned his destination could be Papuda.
Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious digestive issues – the outcome of a near-fatal assault during the 2018 presidential presidential campaign – meant it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His condition is highly critical. He will not be able to handle it if they send him to Papuda … It would be dreadful,” he added, who also expressed concern about packed cells and the standard of jail cuisine.
During his tour Papuda, Lucas noted observing cells holding 40 inmates: “That is almost one square metre per detainee.
“We talked to the convicts and they protest, unsurprisingly, of the awful cuisine,” added the senator.
Allies Voice Concerns
Lucas is not the only voice expressing views prior to the ex-leader's predicted imprisonment.
Authoring in a major newspaper, another ally, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “brutal” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to witness “the greatest political injustice in its record”.
“This is an wrong that eats away the spirits of countless Brazilian citizens,” Wajngarten wrote.
Varied Public Reaction
That may be accurate considering the considerable support Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. However his predicted jailing has also warmed the hearts of many other people who think he should be incarcerated for conspiring to stop the elected leader from becoming president – and additionally conspiring to have him killed.
Reimont Otoni, a politician for the sitting leader's allied group, commented: “No one wants Bolsonaro to be put in a dark cell. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be put in segregation. No one wants Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We desire him to get respectful treatment – but respectful treatment while incarcerated. He can’t persist being his personal jailer for his whole life.”
The congressman noted how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long praising the harsh conditions of inmates, had abruptly become aware to their privileges. “Only now has the far-right – which has consistently argued that civil liberties should not be for lawbreakers – opted to visit a jail to find out what circumstances are actually like,” he said.
“He is a criminal,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, degrading treatment”.
Likely Jail Facilities
Despite rumors that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which currently holds about 14,000 inmates, his more likely location appears to be a nearby penitentiary for law enforcement and other “particular” detainees known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).
The accommodations are far more adequate than those in the larger jail, although still a far cry from the luxury Bolsonaro had while living in the stunning official residence, about a short distance away.
According to sources, the accommodation Bolsonaro could anticipate reside in in Papudinha has about 24 square meters – about the size of two parking spaces – and contains a 130 square foot restroom with a water facility and a 12 square meter terrace. “The ex-president might be permitted to have a set and also a cooler in his cell as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” the report stated.
Partisan Reactions
He criticized the speculated idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a form of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who led Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will decide his fate in the {