Prison Surprise: Brazil's Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Faces Time Behind Bars

He fought the legal system and justice triumphed.

Sixty days following getting a twenty-seven-year sentence for seeking to “eradicate” Brazil’s political system, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now seems destined for incarceration.

Imminent Incarceration

The adjudicated coup-monger – who had been subject to home confinement in his residence while a set of court processes and petitions unfold – is widely expected to be imprisoned in the near future, amid mounting talk that he will be moved to a well-known maximum security prison.

Historical Statements on Prisoners

Over Bolsonaro’s four-decade political career, the conservative ex- soldier exhibited minimal mercy for Brazil’s inmates.

“Why should we offer these scoundrels a good life?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be fucked, end of story. That's my view.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to wind up in prison, the only thing required is not sexual assault, kidnap or rob.”

Incarceration Location Debate

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, several of whom this week toured the prison in an obvious effort to discourage the high court from banishing him there.

The senator, a politician from Bolsonaro’s political party who was among that group, stated he expected the 70-year-old figure to be incarcerated in the next 10 days and was concerned his location could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal problems – the result of a life-threatening assault during the 2018 presidential campaign – meant it would be dangerous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His condition is extremely serious. He will not be able to handle it if they take him to Papuda … It would be awful,” said the senator, who also worried about packed cells and the condition of prison meals.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells accommodating four dozen detainees: “It's practically one square meter per inmate.

“We spoke to the convicts and they grumble, unsurprisingly, of the awful cuisine,” added the senator.

Allies React

The senator isn't the only voice expressing views before the ex-leader's anticipated incarceration.

Authoring in a major publication, one more backer, the ex- communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” public service and claimed Brazil was about to see “the greatest wrong in its history”.

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

Mixed Public Response

This could be true considering the significant following Bolsonaro retains on the conservative side. However his anticipated incarceration has also gladdened the hearts of numerous other people who feel he deserves to be jailed for plotting to block the elected leader from assuming office – and also scheming to have him killed.

The lawmaker, a representative for the sitting leader's Workers’ party, stated: “Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be put in a hole. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be placed in solitary confinement. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We wish him to get dignified handling – but proper care behind bars. He must not carry on being his personal jailer for his whole life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro supporters, who have for a long time praising the severe conditions of inmates, had unexpectedly become aware to their entitlements. “Just now has the conservative fringe – which has always argued that human rights were not for lawbreakers – decided to tour a penitentiary to find out what situations are truly like,” he stated.

“He is a criminal,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “degrading, demeaning treatment”.

Possible Incarceration Facilities

In spite of rumors that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently contains about thousands of prisoners, his expected assigned facility seems to be a nearby penitentiary for law enforcement and other “unique” prisoners known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

Its cells are far more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a far cry from the opulence Bolsonaro experienced while living in the impressive presidential palace, around a short distance away.

As per sources, the room Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha is about 260 square feet – about the area of two parking spaces – and includes a 12 square meter restroom with a shower and a 12 square meter veranda. “He could be permitted to have a set and even a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were donated by his relatives,” the report suggested.

Partisan Reactions

The lawmaker criticized the talked-about proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his fate in the {

Jasmine Berger
Jasmine Berger

A professional casino analyst with over a decade of experience in gaming strategies and slot machine mechanics, dedicated to helping players improve their odds.