Jailhouse Surprise: The Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Time in Prison

He contested the law and the legal system won.

Sixty days following receiving a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “eradicate” the nation's political system, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now seems destined for incarceration.

Imminent Incarceration

The convicted plotter – who has been under residential detention in his residence while a set of judicial steps and challenges unfold – is largely predicted to be imprisoned in the next few days, during increasing talk that he will be sent to a infamous maximum security prison.

Historical Comments on Convicts

Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade public life, the far-right ex- soldier showed scant mercy for the country's jailed individuals.

“For what reason must we give these dirtbags a easy time?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be screwed, end of story. That's my view.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Should you not wish to finish behind bars, you simply need is not rape, abduction or rob.”

Prison Location Discussion

Yet the idea of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, several of whom this week visited the prison in an apparent attempt to discourage the high court from sending him there.

Senator Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was among that group, said he expected the elderly leader to be imprisoned in the coming fortnight and worried his assigned prison could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal issues – the result of a near-fatal knife attack during the 2018 election race – signified it would be hazardous to keep the former president there. “His condition is very grave. He will not be able to handle it if they move him to Papuda … It would be terrible,” he added, who also expressed concern about overcrowded cells and the standard of inmate food.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas recalled witnessing cells accommodating 40 prisoners: “That is almost one meter squared per inmate.

“We talked to the prisoners and they protest, of course, of the awful meals,” continued the senator.

Allies React

He is not the lone figure expressing views prior to the ex-leader's expected incarceration.

Writing in a major daily, one more backer, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “severe” end to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” political career and claimed Brazil was about to see “the biggest unfairness in its record”.

“It is an injustice that gnaws the spirits of many people in Brazil,” the former minister said.

Varied General Response

That may be accurate given the significant backing Bolsonaro holds on the right-wing. However his anticipated incarceration has also gladdened the feelings of many individuals who believe he should be incarcerated for planning to stop the elected leader from taking power – and even plotting to have him assassinated.

The lawmaker, a representative for the sitting leader's political party, said: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be put in a dark cell. No one desires Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. Nobody wants Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to receive proper handling – but respectful care behind bars. He can’t carry on being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long celebrating the tough handling of prisoners, had unexpectedly become aware to their privileges. “Just now has the far-right – which has repeatedly argued that civil liberties were not for lawbreakers – decided to inspect a jail to find out what conditions are really like,” he said.

“He is a criminal,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he merited “humiliating, degrading conduct”.

Likely Incarceration Environment

In spite of rumors that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently contains about fourteen thousand detainees, his more likely assigned facility looks to be a adjacent prison for law enforcement and other “particular” prisoners called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are considerably more comfortable than those in the main prison, although nonetheless a world away from the luxury Bolsonaro had while occupying the spectacular presidential palace, about 12 miles away.

As per sources, the room Bolsonaro could anticipate occupy in Papudinha has about 260 square feet – roughly the dimensions of vehicle spaces – and includes a 130 square foot bathroom with a shower and a 12 sq metre veranda. “He could be permitted to have a set and even a minibar in his cell as long as they were supplied by his loved ones,” sources stated.

Ideological Responses

The lawmaker denounced the talked-about proposal to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the judicial authority who oversaw Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will decide his future in the {

Nicholas Sanders
Nicholas Sanders

Elara Vance is a seasoned international business strategist with over 15 years of experience advising multinational corporations on market expansion and risk management.

Popular Post