Jailhouse Shock: Brazil's FormerPresident Bolsonaro Confronts Life in Prison

He fought the law and justice prevailed.

A couple of months following being handed a twenty-seven-year sentence for attempting to “eradicate” the nation's democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last appears headed to prison.

Imminent Imprisonment

The found-guilty plotter – who has been under house arrest in his mansion while a set of judicial steps and challenges unfold – is widely expected to be imprisoned in the next few days, amidst growing talk that he will be moved to a infamous top-security prison.

Historical Remarks on Convicts

Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade public life, the right-wing ex- soldier exhibited little sympathy for the country's prison population.

“Why should we provide those dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he once pondered. “They should just get screwed, period. That's my view.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to end up there, the only thing required is not rape, abduction or rob.”

Prison Destination Speculation

But the idea of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has horrified supporters, several of whom this week inspected the prison in an seeming attempt to dissuade the supreme court from sending him there.

Senator Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was part of that quartet, said he expected the elderly leader to be jailed in the next 10 days and worried his location could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s acute digestive issues – the consequence of a near-fatal stabbing during the 2018 election race – meant it would be dangerous to keep the former president there. “His [health] situation is very grave. He won’t be able to cope if they send him to Papuda … It would be terrible,” said the senator, who also voiced anxiety about cramped cells and the standard of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered witnessing cells containing forty detainees: “That is virtually one meter squared per prisoner.

“We talked to the convicts and they protest, naturally, of the horrible cuisine,” remarked the senator.

Supporters Voice Concerns

He is not the lone figure expressing views ahead of the former president’s predicted imprisonment.

Penning in a major publication, another ally, the ex- communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “severe” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and alleged Brazil was about to witness “the greatest wrong in its history”.

“This is an injustice that eats away the spirits of many Brazilian citizens,” he stated.

Mixed Popular Reaction

That may be accurate considering the substantial backing Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. Yet his predicted incarceration has also gladdened the feelings of many individuals who think he ought to be jailed for planning to stop his successor from becoming president – and additionally scheming to have him murdered.

Congressman Otoni, a congressman for the incumbent president's allied group, stated: “Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. No one wants Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We wish him to get proper treatment – but respectful care in prison. He must not continue being his self-appointed guard for his entire life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have spent years praising the severe handling of prisoners, had unexpectedly woken up to their privileges. “Recently has the extreme right – which has always argued that civil liberties were not for criminals – chosen to inspect a jail to learn what situations are really like,” he stated.

“The former president is a criminal,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “shameful, degrading treatment”.

Likely Incarceration Conditions

Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which now holds about 14,000 inmates, his more likely destination looks to be a adjacent prison for officers and other “unique” detainees referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are considerably more adequate than those in the primary facility, although nonetheless a distant from the comfort Bolsonaro experienced while occupying the spectacular presidential palace, around 12 miles away.

As per reports, the accommodation Bolsonaro could expect to reside in in Papudinha is about 260 square feet – roughly the dimensions of a couple of car spots – and includes a 130 square foot bathroom with a shower and a 12 sq metre balcony. “Bolsonaro would be permitted to have a TV and also a minibar in his cell as long as they were provided by his relatives,” the report suggested.

Partisan Responses

He condemned the talked-about idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a form of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will determine his fate in the {

Morgan Harper
Morgan Harper

A tech journalist and digital strategist with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and their impact on society.