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

He contested the law and the law prevailed.

Two months after receiving a quarter-century plus sentence for seeking to “destroy” the nation's political system, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro finally seems headed to prison.

Imminent Jailing

The convicted plotter – who has been under house arrest in his estate while a set of judicial steps and challenges play out – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the coming days, amidst mounting talk that he will be transferred to a well-known high-security facility.

Historical Statements on Convicts

Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade time in politics, the far-right ex- soldier showed minimal sympathy for Brazil’s prison population.

“What’s the need to give those lowlifes a good life?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be screwed, end of story. That's my opinion.”

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

Prison Location Debate

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, four of whom this week toured the prison in an obvious bid to prevent the supreme court from banishing him there.

Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was one of the visitors, said he expected the 70-year-old politician to be imprisoned in the coming fortnight and feared his location could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious gut problems – the result of a almost deadly stabbing during the 2018 political campaign – meant it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His health is highly critical. He cannot to manage if they move him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he added, who also expressed concern about overcrowded cells and the standard of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells accommodating 40 detainees: “That’s virtually one square metre per inmate.

“We conversed to the inmates and they complain, naturally, of the awful cuisine,” continued the senator.

Backers Voice Concerns

Lucas is not the sole person expressing views ahead of the ex-leader's anticipated incarceration.

Authoring in a prominent publication, a different supporter, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” public service and claimed Brazil was about to witness “the biggest wrong in its history”.

“It is an injustice that eats away the spirits of many people in Brazil,” Wajngarten wrote.

Varied Public Reaction

This could be correct given the considerable following Bolsonaro retains on the conservative side. However his anticipated incarceration has also warmed the feelings of millions other people who think he should be imprisoned for planning to stop the elected leader from taking power – and also scheming to have him murdered.

Congressman Otoni, a representative for the sitting administration's political party, stated: “Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be put in a hole. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be sent in segregation. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We want him to obtain proper care – but proper handling while incarcerated. He can’t continue being his own prison warden for his whole life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long praising the tough treatment of convicts, had abruptly woken up to their entitlements. “Only now has the extreme right – which has repeatedly asserted that human rights should not be for offenders – chosen to tour a jail to learn what circumstances are really like,” he stated.

“The former president is a offender,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he deserved “shameful, insulting conduct”.

Potential Jail Facilities

In spite of speculation that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which now holds about thousands of detainees, his probable destination seems to be a adjacent jail for police officers and other “special” prisoners known as Papudinha (Small Papuda).

His potential cell are far more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although nevertheless a far cry from the luxury Bolsonaro enjoyed while occupying the stunning official residence, approximately a short distance away.

Based on sources, the room Bolsonaro could likely inhabit in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – about the size of vehicle spaces – and includes a 12 square meter restroom with a water facility and a 130 square foot veranda. “The ex-president might be authorized to have a television and even a small fridge in his room as long as they were supplied by his family,” information indicated.

Political Responses

He criticized the speculated idea to send the ex-president to Papuda as “an act of payback” on the part of the judicial authority who presided over Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his future in the {

Kayla Hernandez
Kayla Hernandez

Mira Thorne is a web infrastructure specialist with over a decade of experience in cloud computing and hosting solutions.