Jailhouse Shock: The FormerPresident Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Time Behind Bars

He battled justice and the law prevailed.

Two months after being handed a 27-year sentence for seeking to “destroy” Brazil’s democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro now seems headed to prison.

Expected Incarceration

The found-guilty plotter – who has been under home confinement in his estate while a set of court processes and challenges play out – is broadly anticipated to be incarcerated in the near future, amidst increasing speculation that he will be transferred to a well-known high-security facility.

Previous Statements on Prisoners

Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade public life, the right-wing ex- paratrooper exhibited minimal mercy for Brazil’s inmates.

“For what reason must we offer those dirtbags a good life?” he once mused. “They ought to simply be messed, period. That's my opinion.”

At another time, Bolsonaro stated: “Unless you desire to wind up behind bars, all you have to do is to avoid sexual assault, abduction or rob.”

Incarceration Facility Discussion

However the prospect of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison high-security prison in Brasília has appalled supporters, four of whom this week toured the facility in an seeming bid to prevent the high court from sending him there.

Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was among that group, claimed he expected the elderly politician to be incarcerated in the next 10 days and worried his destination could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s severe gut issues – the outcome of a life-threatening assault during the last political campaign – meant it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His health is very grave. He cannot to manage if they take him to Papuda … It will be dreadful,” he added, who also voiced anxiety about overcrowded cells and the condition of prison meals.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas noted witnessing cells containing four dozen detainees: “That is virtually one square metre per prisoner.

“We conversed to the inmates and they complain, unsurprisingly, of the awful cuisine,” remarked the senator.

Backers Speak Out

Lucas is not the lone figure expressing views before the one-time head of state's expected detention.

Writing in a prominent daily, another ally, the ex- government official Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” public service and claimed Brazil was about to experience “the largest unfairness in its record”.

“This is an wrong that eats away the hearts of millions Brazilian citizens,” Wajngarten wrote.

Mixed General Opinion

This could be true considering the substantial backing Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. But his anticipated jailing has also warmed the feelings of many other people who feel he should be imprisoned for planning to prevent his successor from assuming office – and even conspiring to have him murdered.

Reimont Otoni, a politician for the current leader's Workers’ party, commented: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a dark cell. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. No one desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We want him to receive dignified care – but proper treatment in prison. He cannot persist being his self-appointed guard for his whole life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long praising the tough conditions of prisoners, had unexpectedly become aware to their rights. “Just now has the conservative fringe – which has always claimed that human rights were not for offenders – chosen to tour a prison to find out what conditions are actually like,” he said.

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

Likely Incarceration Environment

Regardless of talk that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now contains about fourteen thousand detainees, his probable assigned facility appears to be a adjacent jail for law enforcement and other “unique” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are far more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nevertheless a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro experienced while residing in the spectacular leader's home, approximately 20 kilometers away.

Based on reports, the accommodation Bolsonaro could anticipate reside in in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – roughly the area of vehicle spaces – and includes a 12 sq metre WC with a bathing area and a 130 square foot terrace. “The ex-president might be allowed to have a TV and even a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” information suggested.

Ideological Comments

He denounced the talked-about proposal to send the former leader to Papuda as “a type of retaliation” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s legal case and will determine his outcome in the {

Sean Keith
Sean Keith

A tech entrepreneur and cloud computing expert with over a decade of experience in digital transformation strategies.