Prison Shock: Brazil's Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Faces Time in Prison

He fought the legal system and the legal system won.

A couple of months following getting a twenty-seven-year sentence for trying to “annihilate” Brazil’s political system, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro at last seems destined for incarceration.

Imminent Jailing

The adjudicated instigator – who's been under residential detention in his residence while a number of judicial steps and petitions unfold – is largely predicted to be imprisoned in the coming days, amidst growing speculation that he will be moved to a infamous high-security prison.

Past Comments on Inmates

Over Bolsonaro’s long political career, the conservative former military man exhibited scant sympathy for the country's jailed individuals.

“For what reason must we offer those dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They deserve to be fucked, full-fucking-stop. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Unless you desire to finish there, you simply need is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or rob.”

Prison Facility Speculation

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, four of whom this week inspected the prison in an apparent attempt to discourage the judiciary from transferring him there.

Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was among that group, claimed he expected the elderly leader to be jailed in the coming fortnight and worried his destination could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious intestinal ailments – the outcome 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 [health] situation is extremely serious. He will not be able to manage if they move him to Papuda … It could be terrible,” he added, who also worried about packed cells and the quality of jail cuisine.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas noted seeing cells containing forty detainees: “That’s almost one square meter per prisoner.

“We talked to the inmates and they grumble, of course, of the terrible cuisine,” continued the senator.

Allies Speak Out

The senator isn't the only voice expressing views prior to the former president’s anticipated incarceration.

Authoring in a prominent daily, a different supporter, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” public service and asserted Brazil was about to witness “the largest political injustice in its past”.

“It is an injustice that erodes the souls of countless Brazilian citizens,” Wajngarten wrote.

Mixed Popular Opinion

It is possibly correct given the significant support Bolsonaro holds on the right-wing. Yet his expected incarceration has also pleased the spirits of numerous others who feel he deserves to be jailed for conspiring to stop the incoming president from taking power – and additionally scheming to have him killed.

Reimont Otoni, a politician for the incumbent president's political party, said: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be put in a dark cell. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to obtain dignified handling – but respectful treatment while incarcerated. He cannot persist being his own prison warden for his entire life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time praising the harsh treatment of prisoners, had abruptly realized to their privileges. “Recently has the extreme right – which has repeatedly argued that civil liberties should not be for criminals – chosen to visit a jail to learn what circumstances are really like,” he stated.

“Bolsonaro is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he earned “shameful, degrading handling”.

Likely Incarceration Facilities

Regardless of rumors that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which presently contains about 14,000 prisoners, his expected destination seems to be a close penitentiary for law enforcement and other “unique” detainees known as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

His potential cell are much more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although nevertheless a far cry from the opulence Bolsonaro experienced while living in the spectacular official residence, about a short distance away.

According to sources, the cell Bolsonaro could likely reside in in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – about the dimensions of two parking spaces – and includes a 12 sq metre bathroom with a bathing area and a 130 square foot balcony. “He could be allowed to have a TV and also a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were donated by his loved ones,” information indicated.

Ideological Responses

He denounced the speculated proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the judicial authority who oversaw Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will decide his outcome in the {

Jonathan Lawrence
Jonathan Lawrence

Elara Vance is an industrial engineer and sustainability advocate with over a decade of experience in optimizing manufacturing processes.