Prison Shock: Brazil's FormerPresident Bolsonaro Confronts Life in Prison

He battled justice and the legal system won.

Two months subsequent to being handed a 27-year sentence for attempting to “destroy” Brazil’s democracy, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro at last looks headed to prison.

Imminent Jailing

The convicted plotter – who has been under residential detention in his estate while a set of court processes and appeals play out – is broadly anticipated to be incarcerated in the near future, during increasing speculation that he will be transferred to a well-known top-security penitentiary.

Past Comments on Inmates

During Bolsonaro’s four-decade public life, the right-wing ex- paratrooper showed little mercy for the country's jailed individuals.

“Why should we offer these dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he once pondered. “They should just get screwed, end of story. That’s what I reckon.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to end up in prison, you simply need is to avoid rape, abduction or theft.”

Incarceration Location Debate

However the possibility of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has horrified backers, four of whom this week inspected the prison in an obvious bid to prevent the supreme court from sending him there.

Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was part of that quartet, said he predicted the septuagenarian leader to be jailed in the next 10 days and worried his destination could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s severe digestive problems – the outcome of a almost deadly assault during the 2018 election race – meant it would be dangerous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He will not be able to handle it if they take him to Papuda … It will be awful,” said the senator, who also voiced anxiety about cramped cells and the condition of jail cuisine.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells holding four dozen detainees: “It's virtually one square metre per detainee.

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

Supporters Speak Out

The senator isn't the sole person voicing opinions ahead of the former president’s expected incarceration.

Writing in a leading daily, another ally, the ex- communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “severe” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” political career and asserted Brazil was about to experience “the biggest political injustice in its history”.

“This is an injustice that gnaws the souls of countless of Brazilians,” the former minister said.

Mixed Popular Response

It is possibly true given the considerable support Bolsonaro retains on the conservative side. But his expected incarceration has also warmed the hearts of many individuals who think he ought to be incarcerated for plotting to stop the elected leader from taking power – and even scheming to have him killed.

Reimont Otoni, a congressman for the sitting administration's political party, stated: “No one desires Bolsonaro to be placed in a dungeon. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. No one desires Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We wish him to receive dignified treatment – but proper treatment while incarcerated. He can’t carry on being his personal jailer for his whole life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have spent years praising the harsh treatment of prisoners, had suddenly realized to their rights. “Only now has the far-right – which has always asserted that human rights are not for lawbreakers – chosen to tour a penitentiary to learn what situations are truly like,” he remarked.

“Bolsonaro is a offender,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he merited “degrading, degrading treatment”.

Possible Jail Facilities

Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which currently contains about thousands of prisoners, his expected assigned facility appears to be a close jail for law enforcement and other “particular” detainees referred to as Papudinha (Small Papuda).

His potential cell are far more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although still a distant from the luxury Bolsonaro experienced while residing in the stunning leader's home, about a short distance away.

Based on reports, the room Bolsonaro could anticipate occupy in Papudinha has about 260 square feet – roughly the area of two parking spaces – and contains a 130 square foot bathroom with a shower and a 12 square meter balcony. “Bolsonaro would be authorized to have a TV and also a small fridge in his room as long as they were provided by his family,” information suggested.

Ideological Reactions

He denounced the rumoured proposal to send the former leader to Papuda as “an act of retaliation” on the part of the presiding magistrate who oversaw Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will decide his outcome in the {

Steven Marquez
Steven Marquez

Former casino manager turned gaming analyst, specializing in slot machine mechanics and responsible gambling practices.