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

He contested the legal system and justice won.

Sixty days subsequent to getting a 27-year sentence for trying to “annihilate” the nation's political system, former president Jair Bolsonaro finally appears destined for incarceration.

Imminent Incarceration

The found-guilty instigator – who's been living under residential detention in his residence while a number of legal procedures and petitions proceed – is largely predicted to be jailed in the coming days, amidst increasing rumors that he will be transferred to a notorious high-security penitentiary.

Previous Remarks on Convicts

Over Bolsonaro’s long political career, the far-right former paratrooper displayed little sympathy for the country's jailed individuals.

“What’s the need to offer these scoundrels a easy time?” he previously wondered. “They ought to simply be screwed, full-fucking-stop. That's my view.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to finish behind bars, the only thing required is not rape, kidnap or rob.”

Jail Facility Debate

However the possibility of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has appalled supporters, four of whom this week inspected the prison in an apparent attempt to discourage the supreme court from sending him there.

The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s political party who was one of the visitors, claimed he expected the 70-year-old figure to be incarcerated in the next 10 days and was concerned his location could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal problems – the result of a life-threatening assault during the last presidential campaign – signified it would be risky to keep the one-time head of state there. “His condition is very grave. He won’t be able to manage if they take him to Papuda … It would be awful,” he added, who also worried about packed cells and the quality of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells accommodating 40 detainees: “It's almost one square metre per inmate.

“We spoke to the convicts and they protest, naturally, of the awful food,” remarked the senator.

Allies Voice Concerns

He is not the lone figure expressing views prior to the former president’s predicted detention.

Writing in a major daily, another ally, the ex- communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “harsh” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to witness “the largest unfairness in its history”.

“This is an unfairness that gnaws the souls of many people in Brazil,” Wajngarten wrote.

Divided Popular Response

It is possibly accurate given the considerable backing Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. But his anticipated imprisonment has also pleased the feelings of many other people who feel he should be incarcerated for plotting to stop his successor from taking power – and even conspiring to have him assassinated.

The lawmaker, a politician for the incumbent president's Workers’ party, said: “No one desires Bolsonaro to be put in a dungeon. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to obtain respectful handling – but proper treatment while incarcerated. He cannot carry on being his self-appointed guard for his lifetime.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro allies, who have for a long time celebrating the severe handling of convicts, had unexpectedly realized to their rights. “Only now has the extreme right – which has always argued that basic rights should not be for offenders – opted to visit a prison to discover what situations are really like,” he stated.

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

Possible Prison Conditions

Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which presently contains about thousands of prisoners, his expected assigned facility seems to be a adjacent penitentiary for police officers and other “particular” prisoners called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are far more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nevertheless a far cry from the opulence Bolsonaro had while residing in the spectacular official residence, around 20 kilometers away.

Based on sources, the cell Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – about the size of vehicle spaces – and includes a 12 sq metre restroom with a water facility and a 12 square meter terrace. “The ex-president might be allowed to have a television and additionally a small fridge in his room as long as they were provided by his loved ones,” the report suggested.

Partisan Comments

Senator Lucas condemned the rumoured plan to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a type of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who led Bolsonaro’s legal case and will decide his outcome in the {

Belinda Gonzalez
Belinda Gonzalez

A passionate writer and life coach dedicated to sharing transformative experiences and empowering others through storytelling.