Jailhouse Shock: The Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Faces Time Behind Bars

He contested the legal system and justice won.

A couple of months subsequent to being handed a 27-year sentence for trying to “destroy” Brazil’s democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last appears headed to prison.

Expected Jailing

The adjudicated plotter – who's been under residential detention in his residence while a number of judicial steps and challenges proceed – is largely predicted to be jailed in the coming days, during increasing speculation that he will be transferred to a notorious maximum security penitentiary.

Past Comments on Convicts

Over Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the far-right former soldier exhibited scant compassion for the country's jailed individuals.

“What’s the need to give these dirtbags a good life?” he once pondered. “They ought to simply be fucked, end of story. That's my opinion.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro stated: “Should you not wish to wind up there, all you have to do is to avoid sexual assault, abduction or theft.”

Jail Facility Speculation

But the idea of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has horrified supporters, four of whom this week inspected the complex in an apparent effort to prevent the high court from banishing him there.

Izalci Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was one of the visitors, said he expected the elderly leader to be incarcerated in the next 10 days and worried his location could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious gut issues – the consequence of a near-fatal knife attack during the last election race – signified it would be risky to keep the one-time head of state there. “His condition is very grave. He won’t be able to cope if they take him to Papuda … It could be terrible,” he commented, who also expressed concern about overcrowded cells and the condition of inmate food.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas noted seeing cells holding forty detainees: “It's virtually one square metre per detainee.

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

Supporters Speak Out

The senator isn't the lone figure expressing views ahead of the former president’s anticipated incarceration.

Writing in a prominent newspaper, one more backer, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” public service and claimed Brazil was about to witness “the largest unfairness in its history”.

“It represents an unfairness that eats away the spirits of many of Brazilians,” he stated.

Mixed Public Response

This could be true due to the considerable support Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. However his expected incarceration has also warmed the spirits of millions individuals who believe he ought to be jailed for planning to block the elected leader from taking power – and additionally scheming to have him murdered.

Reimont Otoni, a congressman for the incumbent president's Workers’ party, said: “No one wants Bolsonaro to be put in a dungeon. No one wants Bolsonaro to be sent in isolation. No one wants Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We desire him to obtain respectful handling – but respectful handling in prison. He must not carry on being his self-appointed guard for his whole life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long celebrating the severe handling of prisoners, had suddenly woken up to their privileges. “Recently has the far-right – which has repeatedly claimed that civil liberties were not for offenders – opted to visit a penitentiary to find out what circumstances are truly like,” he said.

“He is a lawbreaker,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he deserved “shameful, insulting handling”.

Possible Incarceration Conditions

Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which presently holds about thousands of prisoners, his expected assigned facility seems to be a nearby jail for law enforcement and other “special” detainees known as Papudinha (Small Papuda).

Its cells are much more comfortable than those in the main prison, although nevertheless a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro experienced while residing in the impressive leader's home, around 12 miles away.

Based on reports, the room Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – approximately the area of two parking spaces – and includes a 130 square foot restroom with a water facility and a 130 square foot balcony. “Bolsonaro would be allowed to have a television and additionally a small fridge in his room as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” sources stated.

Partisan Reactions

He criticized the rumoured plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “a type of revenge” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will determine his future in the {

Jessica Jackson
Jessica Jackson

Marlon Vance is a tech strategist with over 15 years of experience in IT consulting, specializing in cloud solutions and digital innovation.