Prison Shock: Brazil's FormerPresident Bolsonaro Faces Time Behind Bars

He contested the legal system and justice won.

Two months following being handed a quarter-century plus sentence for attempting to “destroy” Brazil’s democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last appears headed to prison.

Imminent Jailing

The convicted coup-monger – who has been living under house arrest in his residence while a series of legal procedures and appeals proceed – is broadly anticipated to be jailed in the near future, during increasing speculation that he will be moved to a well-known high-security penitentiary.

Historical Remarks on Prisoners

Over Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the right-wing former paratrooper showed scant sympathy for Brazil’s prison population.

“For what reason must we provide these scoundrels a comfortable existence?” he previously wondered. “They ought to simply be fucked, end of story. That’s what I reckon.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “Unless you desire to finish there, all you have to do is not sexual assault, abduction or theft.”

Jail Facility Discussion

However the prospect of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked supporters, several of whom this week visited the facility in an obvious effort to dissuade the supreme court from transferring him there.

Izalci Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was one of the visitors, claimed he predicted the 70-year-old figure to be jailed in the following week and a half and worried his assigned prison could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute gut ailments – the consequence of a almost deadly stabbing during the last political campaign – meant it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His [health] situation is very grave. He won’t be able to manage if they send him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he added, who also voiced anxiety about packed cells and the quality of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells containing forty prisoners: “That is virtually one square metre per inmate.

“We talked to the inmates and they protest, of course, of the awful meals,” added the senator.

Allies Voice Concerns

He is not the lone figure expressing views before the former president’s expected imprisonment.

Penning in a leading newspaper, a different supporter, the ex- communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “brutal” end to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” political career and claimed Brazil was about to see “the greatest wrong in its past”.

“This is an wrong that eats away the souls of millions of Brazilians,” Wajngarten wrote.

Mixed General Reaction

That may be true due to the considerable backing Bolsonaro maintains on the conservative side. Yet his anticipated imprisonment has also warmed the spirits of numerous others who think he ought to be jailed for conspiring to stop the incoming president from assuming office – and also plotting to have him assassinated.

The lawmaker, a representative for the current administration's Workers’ party, commented: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in segregation. No one desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We wish him to get dignified treatment – but dignified handling behind bars. He can’t continue being his self-appointed guard for his entire life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro allies, who have long praising the harsh conditions of convicts, had abruptly realized to their privileges. “Recently has the conservative fringe – which has consistently asserted that human rights should not be for offenders – opted to tour a penitentiary to find out what conditions are actually like,” he stated.

“The former president is a lawbreaker,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he deserved “degrading, insulting handling”.

Potential Jail Facilities

Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which presently holds about fourteen thousand prisoners, his probable destination seems to be a adjacent penitentiary for law enforcement and other “particular” prisoners called Papudinha (Small Papuda).

The accommodations are considerably more comfortable than those in the main prison, although still a far cry from the luxury Bolsonaro had while residing in the stunning leader's home, approximately 12 miles away.

According to information, the cell Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha is about 260 square feet – roughly the area of a couple of car spots – and includes a 130 square foot restroom with a shower and a 12 sq metre terrace. “Bolsonaro would be permitted to have a television and additionally a cooler in his room as long as they were donated by his relatives,” information suggested.

Political Comments

The lawmaker criticized the rumoured plan to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a type of revenge” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will decide his future in the {

Kristin Lopez
Kristin Lopez

A historian and writer passionate about uncovering the hidden stories of ancient dynasties and their influence on modern society.