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

He fought justice and the law triumphed.

Two months subsequent to being handed a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “annihilate” the nation's political system, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro now looks headed to prison.

Expected Imprisonment

The found-guilty coup-monger – who had been subject to residential detention in his residence while a number of court processes and challenges unfold – is widely expected to be imprisoned in the coming days, during growing talk that he will be moved to a notorious maximum security penitentiary.

Previous Statements on Inmates

During Bolsonaro’s four-decade time in politics, the far-right former military man exhibited minimal sympathy for Brazil’s jailed individuals.

“For what reason must we provide these scoundrels a easy time?” he once mused. “They ought to simply be fucked, period. That's my opinion.”

At another time, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to end up in prison, you simply need is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or rob.”

Jail Location Discussion

Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has horrified supporters, a group of four this week visited the complex in an seeming effort to dissuade the supreme court from banishing him there.

Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was one of the visitors, said he predicted the septuagenarian politician to be jailed in the next 10 days and worried his destination could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s severe gut problems – the consequence of a near-fatal knife attack during the 2018 election race – meant it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He cannot to manage if they send him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” said the senator, who also worried about cramped cells and the condition of jail cuisine.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas recalled witnessing cells accommodating 40 detainees: “That is almost one square meter per prisoner.

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

Backers Speak Out

The senator isn't the only voice expressing views prior to the former president’s anticipated imprisonment.

Writing in a prominent newspaper, another ally, the ex- government official Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” time in office and alleged Brazil was about to see “the largest unfairness in its history”.

“It represents an injustice that gnaws the souls of millions of Brazilians,” Wajngarten wrote.

Mixed General Response

This could be true considering the significant backing Bolsonaro retains on the Brazilian right. However his anticipated imprisonment has also warmed the feelings of many other people who think he deserves to be incarcerated for plotting to prevent the incoming president from assuming office – and even plotting to have him killed.

Congressman Otoni, a politician for the incumbent president's Workers’ party, said: “No one desires Bolsonaro to be placed in a dungeon. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We wish him to obtain respectful treatment – but proper handling while incarcerated. He cannot carry on being his personal jailer for his whole life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long praising the harsh conditions of inmates, had abruptly become aware to their entitlements. “Just now has the extreme right – which has always asserted that human rights should not be for offenders – opted to visit a penitentiary to discover what conditions are actually like,” he stated.

“Bolsonaro is a lawbreaker,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he deserved “degrading, insulting handling”.

Likely Jail Environment

Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now holds about 14,000 inmates, his expected destination appears to be a adjacent prison for officers and other “unique” detainees called Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

The accommodations are much more pleasant than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a distant from the comfort Bolsonaro had while living in the stunning presidential palace, about a short distance away.

According to information, the cell Bolsonaro could expect to inhabit in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – roughly the area of a couple of car spots – and features a 130 square foot WC with a shower and a 130 square foot veranda. “The ex-president might be permitted to have a TV and additionally a small fridge in his room as long as they were provided by his relatives,” the report stated.

Partisan Responses

The lawmaker condemned the speculated proposal to send the former leader to Papuda as “a form of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who led Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will decide his outcome in the {

Amber Little
Amber Little

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in slot machine mechanics and casino entertainment trends.