The Public Defender’s Office of the Federal District produced a report this month that pointed out overcrowding and poor conditions for elderly people in , the prison where the former president () although in another wing.
Defenders registered 340 people for 177 spaces in the elderly wing — 92% trapped beyond capacity. Elderly people over 80 years old were found sleeping on mattresses on the floor, according to a report obtained by Sheet.
and three months for leading the coup plot, Bolsonaro may have to serve a sentence in a closed prison, if the (Supreme Federal Court) does not accept the defense’s final appeal.
Bolsonaro is 70 years old and, if he were an ordinary prisoner, he could be sent to the wing inspected by the defenders. But the spaces visited by the minister’s chief of staff are different: PDF 1 (Federal District Penitentiary number 1), where one of the wings is intended to house vulnerable prisoners and where politicians have already been imprisoned; and the 19th Military Police Battalion of the Federal District — known as “Papudinha”, because it is located in front of Papuda.
The former president has been under house arrest since August. His defense will argue that he is in poor health to prevent him from complying with a closed regime away from home.
The Public Defender’s Office inspection took place on November 6th. The document will be sent to all criminal enforcement bodies and the CNJ (National Council of Justice). They had also already highlighted problems in the ward for the elderly in Papuda.
The area checked is larger than just the elderly wing, and is called CIR (Internment and Reeducation Center), which houses people deprived of liberty in a semi-open regime. Counting all blocks and wards, including that for the elderly, overcrowding is even greater, at 98%.
In the context of poor conditions, the report recorded complaints about the lack of hygiene materials, the delay in providing medical care, many stuffy and unventilated cells, in addition to the low number of criminal police officers.
“A scenario of extreme overcrowding in the block aimed at the elderly, with around 38 people per cell, which had only 21 beds. The rest of the people there spend the night on the floor, on mattresses —which are also the subject of numerous complaints from prisoners, especially due to the thickness—, or in hammocks, with there even being reports of an accident with an elderly inmate who broke his leg when he fell from the hammock”, says an excerpt from the report.
On the other hand, the elderly wing is the only one that has heated water for bathing, two fans per cell and a television.
The Ombudsman’s Office recommends measures to contain overcrowding at the facility, such as expanding early releases and regime progression, “ensuring balance between inflows and outflows from the prison system, prioritizing semi-open units and especially the CIR’s Elderly wing.”
They also ask for a health care effort to be carried out, prioritizing prisoners with comorbidities, the elderly and those over 80 years of age. Furthermore, they suggest improvements in monitoring food and cell structure.
The report was also forwarded by district deputy Fábio Félix (PSOL), president of the Commission for the Defense of Human Rights, to the CNJ. According to his team, it will still be forwarded to the DF Penitentiary Administration Secretariat.
The parliamentarian asks that the Department of Monitoring and Inspection of the Prison System monitor compliance with the early release and humanitarian house arrest of the elderly and seriously ill in the area. It also requests the effectiveness of policies for regime progression, social reintegration and limitation of occupancy in the elderly ward, among other points.
In the document, Félix cites recent statements by the governor () and his deputy, Celina Leão (PP), about the prison, without directly mentioning Bolsonaro.
“It should be added that, in recent public demonstrations, both governor Ibaneis Rocha and vice-governor Celina Leão recognized the absolute inadequacy of Papuda’s infrastructure to house elderly and seriously ill people, which reinforces the urgency of adopting isonomic measures for the entire vulnerable prison population”, he states.
The governor told Sheet This week, I was unable to guarantee that the Papuda prison would be able to receive Bolsonaro because I was unaware of him. “I can’t guarantee it. We don’t know his health conditions,” said the governor, when asked whether the prison would be able to receive Bolsonaro and take responsibility for him.
Regarding the possibility of the Government of the Federal District appealing a possible court decision in this regard, Ibaneis said that the decision is made by the Supreme Court and the Criminal Executions Court and that it is only up to the Brasília Penitentiary Administration Secretariat to comply with it.
Last week, the ministry sent a letter to Moraes, asking him to verify his condition of being held in prisons in the federal capital. The judge, however, saw a “lack of relevance” in the request and indicated that he should only analyze it after the end of the .
The vice-governor was with Bolsonaro on August 15th. At the time, she did not comment, but, on Monday (11), she said that Papuda would not be able to receive the former president.
“Papuda is not in a position to receive Bolsonaro. He needs a special diet, he is old, he is a former president. If he is well looked after, he will have a long life,” he stated.
