Jailhouse Surprise: The Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Time Behind Bars

He battled justice and justice won.

Sixty days subsequent to receiving a quarter-century plus sentence for attempting to “annihilate” the nation's democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last seems jail-bound.

Expected Jailing

The convicted instigator – who's been living under residential detention in his mansion while a series of judicial steps and appeals proceed – is broadly anticipated to be imprisoned in the next few days, amid increasing speculation that he will be moved to a notorious top-security penitentiary.

Previous Remarks on Convicts

During Bolsonaro’s 40-year political career, the right-wing former military man showed little mercy for Brazil’s jailed individuals.

“Why should we offer those scoundrels a easy time?” he once pondered. “They deserve to be screwed, period. That’s what I reckon.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “If you don’t want to end up behind bars, the only thing required is to avoid rape, kidnap or theft.”

Jail Destination Debate

But the idea of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, four of whom this week inspected the facility in an seeming attempt to discourage the judiciary from sending him there.

Senator Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s political party who was one of the visitors, said he expected the septuagenarian figure to be incarcerated in the following week and a half and worried his destination could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s severe intestinal issues – the outcome of a near-fatal stabbing during the 2018 election race – signified it would be dangerous to keep the ex-leader there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He cannot to manage if they send him to Papuda … It would be dreadful,” he added, who also voiced anxiety about packed cells and the standard of inmate food.

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

“We talked to the convicts and they grumble, of course, of the terrible meals,” continued the senator.

Backers Voice Concerns

The senator isn't the lone figure expressing views ahead of the former president’s predicted detention.

Penning in a prominent daily, one more backer, the ex- government official Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” time in office and claimed Brazil was about to see “the largest unfairness in its past”.

“This is an unfairness that erodes the hearts of countless of Brazilians,” he stated.

Varied Public Response

That may be correct given the considerable backing Bolsonaro maintains on the right-wing. However his expected incarceration has also pleased the feelings of millions other people who feel he deserves to be imprisoned for plotting to stop the elected leader from taking power – and even conspiring to have him murdered.

Reimont Otoni, a representative for the incumbent leader's political party, stated: “No one wishes Bolsonaro to be put in a hole. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. No one wants Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We want him to get dignified care – but respectful handling behind bars. He must not persist being his personal jailer for his whole life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years applauding the harsh conditions of convicts, had suddenly become aware to their privileges. “Just now has the conservative fringe – which has repeatedly claimed that human rights are not for criminals – opted to tour a prison to discover what situations are really like,” he said.

“The former president is a criminal,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he merited “humiliating, degrading treatment”.

Potential Prison Facilities

Regardless of rumors that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which currently contains about 14,000 prisoners, his more likely assigned facility appears to be a adjacent penitentiary for police officers and other “special” inmates referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

The accommodations are much more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although nevertheless a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro had while occupying the stunning leader's home, about 12 miles away.

According to reports, the room Bolsonaro could anticipate inhabit in Papudinha is about 260 square feet – approximately the area of two parking spaces – and contains a 12 sq metre restroom with a water facility and a 12 sq metre veranda. “The ex-president might be allowed to have a television and even a cooler in his room as long as they were donated by his relatives,” information stated.

Ideological Reactions

Senator Lucas criticized the speculated plan to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of retaliation” on the part of the presiding magistrate who oversaw Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will determine his outcome in the {

Timothy Howard
Timothy Howard

A tech journalist with over a decade of experience covering consumer electronics and digital innovation, passionate about making tech accessible.