Prison Shock: Brazil's Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Faces Life Behind Bars

He fought the legal system and the law triumphed.

Two months after getting a quarter-century plus sentence for seeking to “eradicate” the nation's democratic institutions, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro now looks headed to prison.

Anticipated Imprisonment

The found-guilty plotter – who's been living under house arrest in his mansion while a set of court processes and petitions play out – is largely predicted to be jailed in the next few days, amidst mounting talk that he will be transferred to a infamous maximum security prison.

Past Statements on Prisoners

Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade public life, the conservative ex- paratrooper showed scant mercy for the country's inmates.

“For what reason must we give these dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be messed, period. That's my opinion.”

At another time, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to finish in prison, you simply need is not rape, kidnap or theft.”

Incarceration Facility Speculation

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked supporters, four of whom this week visited the prison in an apparent effort to prevent the high court from banishing him there.

The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was one of the visitors, stated he predicted the elderly figure to be incarcerated in the coming fortnight and was concerned his location could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s serious digestive ailments – the result of a life-threatening knife attack during the last election race – signified it would be hazardous to keep the former president there. “His condition is very grave. He will not be able to cope if they take him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he added, who also voiced anxiety about overcrowded cells and the quality of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered witnessing cells containing forty detainees: “It's practically one square meter per detainee.

“We conversed to the prisoners and they grumble, naturally, of the terrible food,” remarked the senator.

Allies Speak Out

Lucas is not the sole person voicing opinions prior to the ex-leader's expected imprisonment.

Writing in a leading newspaper, a different supporter, the ex- government official Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “brutal” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and alleged Brazil was about to witness “the greatest political injustice in its past”.

“It is an injustice that eats away the hearts of countless people in Brazil,” the former minister said.

Divided General Reaction

This could be accurate given the substantial backing Bolsonaro maintains on the right-wing. Yet his predicted incarceration has also pleased the hearts of many other people who think he should be imprisoned for plotting to prevent the elected leader from taking power – and also conspiring to have him assassinated.

Reimont Otoni, a politician for the sitting president's Workers’ party, stated: “Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be put in a dark cell. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be sent in segregation. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to get proper treatment – but dignified treatment in prison. He can’t persist being his personal jailer for his whole life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years celebrating the harsh treatment of convicts, had abruptly become aware to their privileges. “Just now has the far-right – which has repeatedly argued that human rights should not be for offenders – chosen to tour a jail to learn what conditions are actually like,” he stated.

“The former president is a criminal,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he deserved “shameful, demeaning handling”.

Likely Incarceration Conditions

Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently holds about thousands of inmates, his probable location appears to be a adjacent jail for law enforcement and other “unique” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

The accommodations are far more pleasant than those in the primary facility, although still a distant from the luxury Bolsonaro enjoyed while occupying the stunning presidential palace, around a short distance away.

According to information, the cell Bolsonaro could anticipate inhabit in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – approximately the area of vehicle spaces – and features a 130 square foot WC with a bathing area and a 12 sq metre veranda. “The ex-president might be authorized to have a set and additionally a minibar in his quarters as long as they were donated by his relatives,” sources suggested.

Ideological Responses

He condemned the talked-about plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who presided over Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will determine his fate in the {

Jacob Turner
Jacob Turner

A tech journalist and gaming enthusiast with a decade of experience covering digital trends and innovations.