Jailhouse Shock: The Ex-President Bolsonaro Faces Life Behind Bars

He fought justice and the law triumphed.

Two months following being handed a twenty-seven-year sentence for trying to “annihilate” Brazil’s democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro now appears jail-bound.

Expected Incarceration

The found-guilty instigator – who had been under home confinement in his mansion while a series of court processes and challenges proceed – is broadly anticipated to be jailed in the near future, amidst increasing rumors that he will be moved to a well-known top-security facility.

Past Comments on Prisoners

During Bolsonaro’s long public life, the right-wing ex- paratrooper showed scant compassion for Brazil’s inmates.

“For what reason must we provide those scoundrels a easy time?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be messed, period. That’s what I reckon.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “Should you not wish to wind up behind bars, all you have to do is not rape, abduction or rob.”

Jail Facility Speculation

But the prospect of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has horrified supporters, a group of four this week inspected the prison in an obvious effort to dissuade the high court from transferring him there.

Izalci Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was one of the visitors, stated he predicted the septuagenarian politician to be incarcerated in the coming fortnight and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s serious digestive ailments – the outcome of a almost deadly knife attack during the 2018 presidential campaign – meant it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He won’t be able to cope if they send him to Papuda … It will be dreadful,” he commented, who also worried about packed cells and the condition of inmate food.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas noted seeing cells accommodating forty prisoners: “That’s almost one square metre per detainee.

“We spoke to the convicts and they grumble, naturally, of the horrible cuisine,” continued the senator.

Allies Speak Out

The senator isn't the sole person voicing opinions before the ex-leader's anticipated incarceration.

Writing in a major daily, a different supporter, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to experience “the largest wrong in its record”.

“It is an unfairness that erodes the hearts of many of Brazilians,” he stated.

Divided General Reaction

That may be accurate due to the considerable following Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. But his anticipated incarceration has also gladdened the spirits of numerous others who feel he deserves to be jailed for conspiring to stop the incoming president from taking power – and even conspiring to have him killed.

The lawmaker, a politician for the sitting leader's Workers’ party, said: “No one desires Bolsonaro to be put in a hole. No one wants Bolsonaro to be sent in isolation. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to lie on concrete. We desire him to obtain dignified care – but proper handling behind bars. He can’t continue being his personal jailer for his entire life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years praising the tough treatment of prisoners, had suddenly realized to their rights. “Only now has the extreme right – which has always claimed that basic rights should not be for criminals – opted to visit a prison to find out what conditions are actually like,” he said.

“Bolsonaro is a offender,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he merited “humiliating, demeaning treatment”.

Possible Incarceration Facilities

In spite of rumors that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which currently contains about fourteen thousand detainees, his expected assigned facility seems to be a close penitentiary for police officers and other “special” detainees known as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

The accommodations are much more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although nevertheless a far cry from the comfort Bolsonaro had while residing in the spectacular presidential palace, around a short distance away.

Based on information, the accommodation Bolsonaro could anticipate inhabit in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – about the dimensions of vehicle spaces – and contains a 12 square meter bathroom with a water facility and a 12 sq metre veranda. “The ex-president might be permitted to have a television and also a cooler in his cell as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” sources indicated.

Partisan Comments

The lawmaker criticized the speculated idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who presided over Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will decide his outcome in the {

Frank Vasquez
Frank Vasquez

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