Jailhouse Shock: Brazil's FormerPresident Jair Bolsonaro Faces Life Behind Bars

He contested justice and the law won.

A couple of months subsequent to getting a quarter-century plus sentence for attempting to “eradicate” the nation's political system, former president Jair Bolsonaro finally appears destined for incarceration.

Expected Jailing

The found-guilty plotter – who has been subject to home confinement in his estate while a number of judicial steps and petitions play out – is broadly anticipated to be imprisoned in the near future, amidst mounting speculation that he will be moved to a infamous maximum security penitentiary.

Previous Comments on Inmates

During Bolsonaro’s four-decade political career, the right-wing former soldier displayed minimal mercy for Brazil’s prison population.

“Why should we give those scoundrels a good life?” he previously wondered. “They should just get messed, end of story. That’s what I reckon.”

At another time, Bolsonaro stated: “Unless you desire to wind up behind bars, the only thing required is to avoid rape, abduction or rob.”

Incarceration Location Debate

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has horrified backers, four of whom this week visited the facility in an apparent effort to dissuade the high court from transferring him there.

Senator Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was among that group, said he expected the septuagenarian politician to be imprisoned in the following week and a half and feared his location could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal issues – the result of a life-threatening assault during the 2018 presidential campaign – meant it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is highly critical. He will not be able to manage if they move him to Papuda … It would be dreadful,” he commented, who also expressed concern about packed cells and the quality of jail cuisine.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells accommodating forty detainees: “That is almost one square metre per prisoner.

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

Allies React

He is not the lone figure voicing opinions ahead of the ex-leader's anticipated detention.

Writing in a leading publication, a different supporter, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” time in office and alleged Brazil was about to experience “the biggest wrong in its history”.

“It represents an injustice that gnaws the souls of many people in Brazil,” the former minister said.

Divided General Response

That may be accurate given the significant support Bolsonaro holds on the Brazilian right. However his anticipated incarceration has also warmed the spirits of numerous other people who feel he ought to be jailed for conspiring to block his successor from taking power – and additionally scheming to have him killed.

The lawmaker, a politician for the current leader's Workers’ party, stated: “Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be put in a hole. No one wants Bolsonaro to be placed in segregation. No one wants Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We want him to get proper treatment – but respectful handling in prison. He cannot continue being his self-appointed guard for his whole life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro allies, who have for a long time applauding the tough handling of inmates, had abruptly woken up to their privileges. “Just now has the extreme right – which has repeatedly asserted that basic rights are not for lawbreakers – chosen to tour a prison to discover what circumstances are actually like,” he remarked.

“The former president is a criminal,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he earned “shameful, insulting conduct”.

Likely Incarceration Conditions

In spite of rumors that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which currently houses about fourteen thousand detainees, his probable location seems to be a nearby prison for police officers and other “particular” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

His potential cell are far more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a distant from the luxury Bolsonaro had while residing in the spectacular presidential palace, approximately 20 kilometers away.

Based on sources, the cell Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha has about 24 square meters – roughly the size of vehicle spaces – and contains a 12 sq metre WC with a shower and a 12 square meter terrace. “The ex-president might be allowed to have a set and additionally a minibar in his cell as long as they were provided by his family,” sources stated.

Ideological Responses

Senator Lucas denounced the talked-about plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “a type of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s legal case and will rule on his fate in the {

Michael Nelson
Michael Nelson

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