Jailhouse Shock: The Ex-President Bolsonaro Confronts Time Behind Bars

He battled the legal system and justice triumphed.

Two months after getting a twenty-seven-year sentence for trying to “destroy” the nation's political system, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro now looks jail-bound.

Expected Imprisonment

The found-guilty coup-monger – who had been under house arrest in his estate while a number of judicial steps and petitions proceed – is broadly anticipated to be incarcerated in the near future, amid growing rumors that he will be moved to a well-known high-security facility.

Previous Remarks on Inmates

Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade public life, the right-wing ex- military man displayed minimal sympathy for Brazil’s prison population.

“For what reason must we give these dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They deserve to be screwed, end of story. That's my opinion.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to finish behind bars, you simply need is not rape, abduction or theft.”

Jail Destination Discussion

Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, four of whom this week visited the prison in an apparent attempt to discourage the high court from banishing him there.

The senator, a senator from Bolsonaro’s political party who was one of the visitors, said he predicted the 70-year-old figure to be jailed in the following week and a half and was concerned his location could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s serious digestive problems – the outcome of a almost deadly assault during the 2018 presidential election race – meant it would be hazardous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He will not be able to cope if they move him to Papuda … It would be awful,” he added, who also voiced anxiety about cramped cells and the condition of inmate food.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas noted observing cells holding forty detainees: “That’s almost one square meter per detainee.

“We conversed to the prisoners and they grumble, unsurprisingly, of the awful food,” added the senator.

Backers React

He is not the sole person expressing views before the one-time head of state's predicted detention.

Authoring in a prominent newspaper, a different supporter, the ex- communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “severe” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” political career and alleged Brazil was about to see “the biggest political injustice in its record”.

“It is an injustice that erodes the spirits of many people in Brazil,” he stated.

Varied Popular Opinion

This could be accurate given the considerable following Bolsonaro retains on the Brazilian right. However his expected imprisonment has also gladdened the feelings of many others who think he should be jailed for planning to prevent his successor from becoming president – and even conspiring to have him murdered.

Reimont Otoni, a politician for the current president's political party, stated: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be put in a hole. No one desires Bolsonaro to be placed in solitary confinement. Nobody desires Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We desire him to get dignified handling – but respectful handling behind bars. He can’t continue being his self-appointed guard for his whole life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro supporters, who have spent years praising the harsh conditions of prisoners, had abruptly become aware to their rights. “Only now has the conservative fringe – which has always asserted that basic rights were not for lawbreakers – decided to visit a penitentiary to learn what conditions are truly like,” he said.

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

Possible Prison Environment

Regardless of talk that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which presently holds about 14,000 prisoners, his more likely location looks to be a close penitentiary for police officers and other “unique” inmates known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

The accommodations are far more pleasant than those in the main prison, although nevertheless a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro had while residing in the impressive leader's home, around a short distance away.

Based on sources, the room Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha measures about 24 square meters – approximately the dimensions of two parking spaces – and includes a 12 sq metre restroom with a water facility and a 12 sq metre veranda. “Bolsonaro would be authorized to have a TV and also a minibar in his room as long as they were provided by his loved ones,” information indicated.

Political Comments

Senator Lucas condemned the rumoured idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a type of payback” on the part of the supreme court judge who presided over Bolsonaro’s legal case and will rule on his future in the {

Charles Fisher
Charles Fisher

A fashion historian and style consultant with a passion for blending classic aesthetics with contemporary trends.