Prison Shock: The Ex-President Bolsonaro Confronts Life Behind Bars

He fought the law and justice triumphed.

Sixty days subsequent to being handed a twenty-seven-year sentence for trying to “eradicate” the nation's democracy, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro now appears jail-bound.

Imminent Imprisonment

The found-guilty plotter – who had been living under residential detention in his mansion while a number of judicial steps and petitions unfold – is broadly anticipated to be jailed in the coming days, during mounting speculation that he will be transferred to a notorious top-security prison.

Past Statements on Prisoners

Over Bolsonaro’s long public life, the far-right former military man displayed scant compassion for Brazil’s jailed individuals.

“What’s the need to offer these scoundrels a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They should just get messed, end of story. That's my view.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to finish in prison, all you have to do is to avoid rape, kidnap or rob.”

Incarceration Location Discussion

Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, several of whom this week toured the complex in an apparent attempt to prevent the high court from banishing him there.

Senator Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was part of that quartet, claimed he predicted the elderly leader to be jailed in the coming fortnight and worried his destination could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s acute gut ailments – the consequence of a almost deadly knife attack during the last presidential campaign – implied it would be dangerous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His [health] situation is highly critical. He won’t be able to handle it if they send him to Papuda … It could be terrible,” said the senator, who also worried about overcrowded cells and the standard of inmate food.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas noted observing cells accommodating 40 inmates: “It's almost one square metre per inmate.

“We spoke to the inmates and they complain, unsurprisingly, of the horrible food,” continued the senator.

Supporters React

He is not the sole person speaking out before the ex-leader's predicted incarceration.

Writing in a leading daily, a different supporter, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and asserted Brazil was about to see “the greatest political injustice in its record”.

“It represents an wrong that eats away the hearts of millions people in Brazil,” he stated.

Divided Public Opinion

It is possibly true given the significant following Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. But his predicted imprisonment has also gladdened the spirits of numerous individuals who feel he should be incarcerated for conspiring to stop the incoming president from becoming president – and also plotting to have him murdered.

Congressman Otoni, a congressman for the current president's political party, commented: “No one wants Bolsonaro to be placed in a hole. No one wants Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. No one wishes Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to lie on concrete. We wish him to get respectful treatment – but proper care in prison. He cannot continue being his own prison warden for his whole life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have long applauding the severe treatment of inmates, had suddenly woken up to their entitlements. “Just now has the extreme right – which has always asserted that civil liberties are not for criminals – opted to inspect a penitentiary to find out what situations are actually like,” he remarked.

“He is a criminal,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, insulting handling”.

Possible Incarceration Facilities

Despite rumors that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which now contains about 14,000 prisoners, his expected destination looks to be a close prison for officers and other “particular” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

Its cells are far more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nevertheless a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro had while residing in the stunning presidential palace, about 20 kilometers away.

Based on sources, the cell Bolsonaro could anticipate occupy in Papudinha has about 260 square feet – approximately the area of a couple of car spots – and includes a 130 square foot WC with a shower and a 12 square meter veranda. “He could be permitted to have a TV and additionally a minibar in his room as long as they were donated by his loved ones,” sources stated.

Ideological Reactions

The lawmaker denounced the talked-about proposal to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “an act of retaliation” on the part of the judicial authority who oversaw Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his outcome in the {

John Pittman
John Pittman

A seasoned casino analyst with over a decade of experience in gaming strategies and industry insights.

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