Prison Surprise: The FormerPresident Jair Bolsonaro Faces Life Behind Bars

He battled the legal system and justice triumphed.

A couple of months following receiving a 27-year sentence for attempting to “eradicate” the nation's democracy, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro at last appears jail-bound.

Expected Incarceration

The convicted plotter – who's been under residential detention in his residence while a set of judicial steps and appeals unfold – is largely predicted to be imprisoned in the next few days, amidst growing rumors that he will be sent to a infamous top-security prison.

Previous Statements on Prisoners

Over Bolsonaro’s 40-year time in politics, the conservative former paratrooper showed scant compassion for the country's jailed individuals.

“What’s the need to provide those scoundrels a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They deserve to be screwed, period. That's my view.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Should you not wish to wind up in prison, you simply need is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or rob.”

Incarceration Destination Speculation

Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has horrified supporters, several of whom this week inspected the prison in an seeming bid to prevent the high court from sending him there.

Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s political party who was among that group, claimed he expected the elderly politician to be incarcerated in the next 10 days and was concerned his assigned prison could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s acute digestive problems – the result of a near-fatal assault during the last election race – signified it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is very grave. He cannot to manage if they send him to Papuda … It would be awful,” he added, who also worried about packed cells and the standard of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled witnessing cells accommodating forty inmates: “It's practically one meter squared per detainee.

“We talked to the convicts and they complain, unsurprisingly, of the terrible meals,” remarked the senator.

Backers Speak Out

He is not the lone figure speaking out ahead of the former president’s predicted imprisonment.

Authoring in a prominent daily, one more backer, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” time in office and claimed Brazil was about to see “the largest political injustice in its past”.

“It represents an unfairness that gnaws the hearts of countless of Brazilians,” the former minister said.

Divided General Response

That may be true given the significant backing Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. But his expected incarceration has also warmed the spirits of many others who feel he deserves to be jailed for conspiring to stop the incoming president from assuming office – and even scheming to have him assassinated.

The lawmaker, a politician for the sitting president's Workers’ party, said: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. No one desires Bolsonaro to be sent in isolation. No one wishes Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to lie on concrete. We want him to receive respectful handling – but dignified handling in prison. He can’t persist being his personal jailer for his entire life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have spent years applauding the harsh conditions of convicts, had unexpectedly become aware to their rights. “Just now has the far-right – which has repeatedly asserted that human rights were not for criminals – opted to visit a penitentiary to discover what circumstances are truly like,” he stated.

“The former president is a lawbreaker,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, demeaning conduct”.

Likely Prison Facilities

In spite of rumors that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which now houses about fourteen thousand detainees, his expected location seems to be a close jail for law enforcement and other “special” prisoners called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are considerably more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although nevertheless a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro enjoyed while residing in the stunning official residence, around 12 miles away.

As per information, the room Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha has about 24 square meters – about the area of a couple of car spots – and includes a 12 sq metre WC with a water facility and a 12 square meter balcony. “Bolsonaro would be authorized to have a TV and additionally a minibar in his cell as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” information stated.

Ideological Comments

He condemned the talked-about proposal to send the former leader to Papuda as “an act of revenge” on the part of the supreme court judge who oversaw Bolsonaro’s legal case and will decide his fate in the {

Matthew Lynn
Matthew Lynn

Urban planner and writer passionate about sustainable city design and community-focused development projects.