Jailhouse Surprise: The FormerPresident Bolsonaro Faces Time Behind Bars

He battled the law and justice prevailed.

Two months following receiving a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “eradicate” the nation's democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last seems headed to prison.

Anticipated Imprisonment

The found-guilty plotter – who's been subject to house arrest in his residence while a series of court processes and appeals play out – is largely predicted to be imprisoned in the coming days, amid increasing rumors that he will be moved to a notorious high-security penitentiary.

Previous Statements on Prisoners

Over Bolsonaro’s 40-year time in politics, the conservative former military man exhibited little sympathy for Brazil’s inmates.

“What’s the need to offer those lowlifes a good life?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be messed, end of story. That's my opinion.”

At another time, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to end up there, you simply need is to avoid rape, abduction or rob.”

Prison Location Debate

However the possibility of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda high-security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, a group of four this week visited the complex in an obvious effort to prevent the supreme court from sending him there.

The senator, a politician from Bolsonaro’s political party who was one of the visitors, claimed he expected the elderly leader to be incarcerated in the following week and a half and worried his assigned prison could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious gut problems – the consequence of a life-threatening stabbing during the last political campaign – implied it would be risky to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is highly critical. He won’t be able to cope if they move him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he added, who also worried about packed cells and the standard of jail cuisine.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered witnessing cells accommodating four dozen detainees: “That’s almost one square meter per prisoner.

“We spoke to the inmates and they complain, of course, of the awful meals,” remarked the senator.

Allies React

He is not the sole person speaking out ahead of the one-time head of state's anticipated incarceration.

Authoring in a leading daily, a different supporter, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” political career and alleged Brazil was about to experience “the greatest unfairness in its past”.

“It represents an injustice that gnaws the souls of many people in Brazil,” Wajngarten wrote.

Mixed Public Opinion

That may be correct given the substantial following Bolsonaro holds on the Brazilian right. But his expected jailing has also gladdened the feelings of numerous others who think he ought to be incarcerated for plotting to prevent his successor from assuming office – and additionally conspiring to have him killed.

The lawmaker, a congressman for the incumbent administration's political party, commented: “Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be sent in a dark cell. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be put in isolation. No one wishes Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to get dignified handling – but proper treatment in prison. He can’t carry on being his self-appointed guard for his whole life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro allies, who have for a long time celebrating the harsh handling of convicts, had suddenly woken up to their rights. “Just now has the extreme right – which has consistently argued that basic rights should not be for criminals – opted to inspect a prison to discover what circumstances are actually like,” he remarked.

“Bolsonaro is a offender,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he earned “degrading, degrading handling”.

Likely Jail Facilities

Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which presently houses about 14,000 detainees, his probable assigned facility seems to be a adjacent jail for police officers and other “special” detainees known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

The accommodations are much more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although nonetheless a far cry from the comfort Bolsonaro experienced while occupying the spectacular leader's home, approximately a short distance away.

According to information, the accommodation Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – roughly the area of two parking spaces – and includes a 12 square meter WC with a water facility and a 130 square foot veranda. “Bolsonaro would be permitted to have a television and also a minibar in his room as long as they were supplied by his loved ones,” information suggested.

Political Responses

He denounced the speculated plan to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who oversaw Bolsonaro’s legal case and will decide his fate in the {

Karen Schaefer
Karen Schaefer

A passionate gamer and tech enthusiast with over a decade of experience in esports and game development.