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

He contested the legal system and justice won.

Two months following getting a quarter-century plus sentence for attempting to “eradicate” Brazil’s democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro now looks headed to prison.

Anticipated Incarceration

The found-guilty plotter – who had been subject to residential detention in his estate while a number of legal procedures and petitions play out – is broadly anticipated to be incarcerated in the coming days, amidst increasing talk that he will be moved to a well-known high-security facility.

Historical Statements on Inmates

During Bolsonaro’s long public life, the conservative ex- military man showed scant mercy for the country's inmates.

“Why should we give those dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They should just get fucked, end of story. That's my view.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “Unless you desire to wind up in prison, you simply need is not sexual assault, abduction or rob.”

Jail Facility Speculation

Yet the idea of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, a group of four this week inspected the complex in an obvious bid to prevent the supreme court from sending him there.

Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was one of the visitors, said he predicted the 70-year-old figure to be jailed in the next 10 days and feared his location could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute gut problems – the consequence of a near-fatal stabbing during the 2018 presidential election race – implied it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His health is highly critical. He cannot to handle it if they take him to Papuda … It would be awful,” he added, who also voiced anxiety about overcrowded cells and the standard of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered seeing cells accommodating forty detainees: “That is practically one meter squared per prisoner.

“We conversed to the inmates and they complain, naturally, of the horrible meals,” continued the senator.

Supporters Speak Out

Lucas is not the sole person expressing views ahead of the one-time head of state's expected detention.

Authoring in a prominent newspaper, another ally, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” time in office and claimed Brazil was about to see “the greatest political injustice in its record”.

“It is an unfairness that eats away the souls of millions of Brazilians,” he stated.

Divided General Response

That may be true given the substantial support Bolsonaro holds on the conservative side. Yet his predicted jailing has also pleased the feelings of many other people who believe he should be jailed for conspiring to block the incoming president from becoming president – and additionally conspiring to have him killed.

Reimont Otoni, a congressman for the current president's Workers’ party, stated: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a dungeon. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be sent in isolation. Nobody wants Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We want him to obtain respectful treatment – but proper treatment while incarcerated. He cannot carry on being his personal jailer for his whole life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long celebrating the severe handling of inmates, had suddenly become aware to their entitlements. “Recently has the far-right – which has repeatedly argued that civil liberties were not for lawbreakers – decided to inspect a penitentiary to find out what circumstances are actually like,” he remarked.

“He is a lawbreaker,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he earned “humiliating, insulting treatment”.

Potential Jail Facilities

Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which presently holds about 14,000 detainees, his expected assigned facility appears to be a close jail for police officers and other “unique” inmates known as Papudinha (Small Papuda).

Its cells are much more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although still a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro enjoyed while living in the spectacular leader's home, about 20 kilometers away.

As per sources, the cell Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha is about 260 square feet – roughly the area of two parking spaces – and includes a 130 square foot restroom with a shower and a 130 square foot veranda. “Bolsonaro would be allowed to have a television and also a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his loved ones,” information indicated.

Partisan Reactions

He denounced the talked-about idea to send the ex-president to Papuda as “an act of payback” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s legal case and will determine his future in the {

Ashley Marquez
Ashley Marquez

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