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

He battled justice and the legal system won.

Two months following being handed a 27-year sentence for attempting to “annihilate” Brazil’s political system, former president Jair Bolsonaro finally looks jail-bound.

Expected Incarceration

The convicted instigator – who had been under residential detention in his mansion while a series of legal procedures and petitions play out – is broadly anticipated to be imprisoned in the near future, during growing rumors that he will be sent to a notorious top-security penitentiary.

Previous Remarks on Convicts

Throughout Bolsonaro’s long public life, the right-wing ex- military man showed little mercy for Brazil’s jailed individuals.

“What’s the need to provide these scoundrels a comfortable existence?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be fucked, end of story. That's my view.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to end up behind bars, you simply need is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or rob.”

Incarceration Facility Debate

But the idea of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has horrified backers, several of whom this week inspected the prison in an apparent attempt to dissuade the judiciary from sending him there.

The senator, a senator from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was among that group, stated he expected the septuagenarian figure to be jailed in the next 10 days and feared his location could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute gut ailments – the outcome of a life-threatening stabbing during the last presidential campaign – meant it would be hazardous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His condition is very grave. He won’t be able to manage if they send him to Papuda … It could be awful,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about cramped cells and the standard of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells accommodating forty detainees: “It's virtually one square meter per detainee.

“We talked to the inmates and they protest, naturally, of the terrible food,” remarked the senator.

Supporters Speak Out

He is not the only voice voicing opinions before the one-time head of state's anticipated imprisonment.

Writing in a leading daily, another ally, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “harsh” end to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” time in office and claimed Brazil was about to see “the biggest wrong in its past”.

“This is an unfairness that erodes the hearts of countless Brazilian citizens,” he stated.

Varied Public Reaction

It is possibly correct considering the substantial backing Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. Yet his expected imprisonment has also gladdened the hearts of numerous individuals who feel he deserves to be imprisoned for planning to stop the incoming president from assuming office – and even conspiring to have him murdered.

The lawmaker, a representative for the incumbent leader's Workers’ party, said: “No one desires Bolsonaro to be placed in a hole. No one wants Bolsonaro to be put in isolation. No one wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We want him to get dignified care – but dignified treatment while incarcerated. He cannot continue being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have long celebrating the tough conditions of prisoners, had unexpectedly become aware to their rights. “Only now has the conservative fringe – which has consistently claimed that human rights are not for offenders – chosen to inspect a jail to discover what circumstances are really like,” he said.

“Bolsonaro is a offender,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he merited “degrading, insulting conduct”.

Possible Jail Conditions

In spite of rumors that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now houses about thousands of inmates, his probable assigned facility seems to be a nearby prison for officers and other “special” prisoners called Papudinha (Small Papuda).

The accommodations are much more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although nonetheless a far cry from the luxury Bolsonaro experienced while residing in the spectacular leader's home, about 20 kilometers away.

Based on sources, the cell Bolsonaro could anticipate occupy in Papudinha measures about 24 square meters – about the area of a couple of car spots – and features a 130 square foot bathroom with a water facility and a 12 sq metre balcony. “He could be authorized to have a TV and even a cooler in his cell as long as they were provided by his relatives,” information indicated.

Partisan Comments

He denounced the rumoured proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of payback” on the part of the judicial authority who oversaw Bolsonaro’s legal case and will rule on his future in the {

Brittany Davis
Brittany Davis

A gaming technology analyst with over a decade of experience in slot machine design and regulatory compliance.