Prison Shock: Brazil's Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Time Behind Bars

He battled justice and the law won.

Two months subsequent to being handed a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “annihilate” Brazil’s democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last seems jail-bound.

Imminent Jailing

The found-guilty instigator – who's been subject to house arrest in his estate while a number of court processes and appeals proceed – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the next few days, during growing talk that he will be sent to a infamous high-security facility.

Past Remarks on Inmates

During Bolsonaro’s 40-year political career, the right-wing ex- soldier showed scant mercy for the country's jailed individuals.

“What’s the need to give those dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he previously wondered. “They ought to simply be screwed, full-fucking-stop. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “If you don’t want to wind up there, all you have to do is not sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”

Incarceration Destination Speculation

Yet the idea of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked supporters, several of whom this week inspected the facility in an obvious bid to discourage the high court from transferring him there.

Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was part of that quartet, stated he expected the 70-year-old politician to be jailed in the next 10 days and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s severe digestive ailments – the consequence of a life-threatening assault during the 2018 political campaign – meant it would be dangerous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He cannot to cope if they move him to Papuda … It will be awful,” he added, who also worried about cramped cells and the condition of prison meals.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas remembered seeing cells accommodating four dozen inmates: “It's virtually one square metre per inmate.

“We talked to the prisoners and they protest, unsurprisingly, of the terrible food,” added the senator.

Supporters React

He is not the only voice expressing views prior to the ex-leader's anticipated imprisonment.

Authoring in a leading publication, another ally, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” time in office and alleged Brazil was about to see “the largest wrong in its record”.

“This is an unfairness that eats away the hearts of millions people in Brazil,” Wajngarten wrote.

Divided Public Response

That may be true given the substantial support Bolsonaro maintains on the conservative side. But his anticipated incarceration has also pleased the feelings of numerous others who feel he should be incarcerated for planning to prevent the elected leader from taking power – and even scheming to have him assassinated.

Reimont Otoni, a politician for the current administration's political party, stated: “Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be sent in a dark cell. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in segregation. No one desires Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We wish him to get proper care – but dignified treatment behind bars. He must not continue being his self-appointed guard for his entire life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro allies, who have long applauding the severe handling of convicts, had abruptly woken up to their rights. “Just now has the far-right – which has always claimed that basic rights should not be for criminals – opted to inspect a prison to learn what circumstances are truly like,” he stated.

“He is a lawbreaker,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he earned “shameful, degrading treatment”.

Likely Jail Facilities

In spite of talk that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now contains about fourteen thousand prisoners, his probable destination seems to be a adjacent penitentiary for officers and other “special” detainees known as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

His potential cell are much more pleasant than those in the main prison, although nevertheless a far cry from the comfort Bolsonaro had while occupying the spectacular official residence, approximately a short distance away.

As per reports, the cell Bolsonaro could anticipate occupy in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – approximately the dimensions of a couple of car spots – and contains a 12 sq metre restroom with a bathing area and a 12 sq metre balcony. “The ex-president might be permitted to have a set and also a cooler in his cell as long as they were provided by his family,” sources stated.

Political Comments

He denounced the talked-about plan to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a type of revenge” on the part of the judicial authority who oversaw Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his fate in the {

Melinda Sawyer
Melinda Sawyer

A tech journalist with a passion for exploring emerging technologies and their impact on everyday life.