Jailhouse Shock: The FormerPresident Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Time Behind Bars

He fought the law and the law won.

A couple of months after being handed a 27-year sentence for trying to “destroy” the nation's democratic institutions, former president Jair Bolsonaro finally looks jail-bound.

Anticipated Incarceration

The found-guilty coup-monger – who had been under home confinement in his residence while a set of legal procedures and petitions play out – is broadly anticipated to be incarcerated in the coming days, during mounting rumors that he will be sent to a notorious high-security facility.

Past Remarks on Prisoners

Over Bolsonaro’s long political career, the conservative former paratrooper showed minimal compassion for the country's prison population.

“Why should we give those lowlifes a easy time?” he once mused. “They deserve to be messed, period. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “Should you not wish to wind up in prison, the only thing required is to avoid rape, abduction or theft.”

Jail Destination Speculation

However the idea of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison high-security prison in Brasília has horrified supporters, a group of four this week inspected the prison in an apparent bid to prevent the high court from transferring him there.

The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, stated he expected the septuagenarian politician to be incarcerated in the following week and a half and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s acute gut issues – the consequence of a near-fatal stabbing during the last political campaign – implied it would be hazardous to keep the former president there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He won’t be able to cope if they move him to Papuda … It could be awful,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about cramped cells and the standard of jail cuisine.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered seeing cells accommodating 40 detainees: “That’s almost one square meter per detainee.

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

Allies Voice Concerns

Lucas is not the sole person expressing views ahead of the former president’s predicted imprisonment.

Penning in a leading daily, one more backer, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and alleged Brazil was about to experience “the greatest wrong in its history”.

“This is an unfairness that eats away the spirits of many people in Brazil,” the former minister said.

Mixed General Opinion

That may be true considering the significant support Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. Yet his anticipated imprisonment has also gladdened the spirits of numerous other people who feel he ought to be incarcerated for plotting to stop the elected leader from taking power – and also plotting to have him killed.

The lawmaker, a congressman for the current administration's Workers’ party, commented: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in a dark cell. Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to lie on concrete. We desire him to get dignified treatment – but proper treatment while incarcerated. He must not carry on being his own prison warden for his lifetime.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years praising the harsh handling of inmates, had unexpectedly realized to their privileges. “Just now has the extreme right – which has always asserted that basic rights were not for lawbreakers – chosen to inspect a jail to learn what circumstances are truly like,” he said.

“The former president is a criminal,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he earned “shameful, demeaning conduct”.

Potential Incarceration Environment

Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which now contains about fourteen thousand inmates, his expected assigned facility seems to be a adjacent penitentiary for police officers and other “particular” detainees referred to as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

His potential cell are far more adequate than those in the larger jail, although still a far cry from the opulence Bolsonaro had while occupying the spectacular presidential palace, approximately 20 kilometers away.

Based on information, the accommodation Bolsonaro could likely reside in in Papudinha is about 24 square meters – roughly the size of a couple of car spots – and features a 130 square foot bathroom with a water facility and a 12 sq metre veranda. “He could be permitted to have a television and even a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” information stated.

Partisan Comments

The lawmaker denounced the talked-about proposal to send the ex-president 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 fate in the {

Patricia Harrison
Patricia Harrison

Financial analyst with over a decade of experience in international markets and investment advisory.