Prison Surprise: Brazil's FormerPresident Bolsonaro Faces Life Behind Bars

He battled the law and the law won.

Sixty days subsequent to receiving a 27-year sentence for seeking to “destroy” Brazil’s democratic institutions, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now looks headed to prison.

Imminent Imprisonment

The found-guilty coup-monger – who has been under house arrest in his mansion while a number of judicial steps and appeals play out – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the near future, amid increasing rumors that he will be sent to a well-known high-security facility.

Historical Remarks on Prisoners

Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade public life, the far-right ex- soldier displayed scant compassion for the country's prison population.

“Why should we give those lowlifes a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They deserve to be fucked, full-fucking-stop. That’s what I reckon.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “Unless you desire to end up there, you simply need is to avoid rape, kidnap or rob.”

Prison Location Debate

Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison high-security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, four of whom this week toured the complex in an seeming attempt to prevent the high court from banishing him there.

The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was among that group, stated he expected the elderly leader to be incarcerated in the coming fortnight and was concerned his location could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious digestive ailments – the outcome of a life-threatening knife attack during the 2018 presidential election race – meant it would be dangerous to keep the former president there. “His [health] situation is very grave. He cannot to manage if they take him to Papuda … It could be awful,” said the senator, who also worried about cramped cells and the standard of jail cuisine.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas noted witnessing cells holding 40 detainees: “It's virtually one meter squared per inmate.

“We conversed to the convicts and they protest, naturally, of the terrible meals,” added the senator.

Allies Voice Concerns

The senator isn't the sole person expressing views ahead of the ex-leader's expected incarceration.

Authoring in a prominent daily, another ally, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” time in office and claimed Brazil was about to experience “the biggest wrong in its past”.

“This is an unfairness that gnaws the spirits of many Brazilian citizens,” he stated.

Varied Public Response

It is possibly correct given the considerable backing Bolsonaro maintains on the conservative side. Yet his expected incarceration has also gladdened the spirits of many individuals who feel he ought to be jailed for conspiring to block his successor from assuming office – and also plotting to have him murdered.

Reimont Otoni, a congressman for the incumbent president's allied group, commented: “Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be placed in a dark cell. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. Nobody desires Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We want him to obtain proper handling – but dignified care behind bars. He cannot continue being his personal jailer for his entire life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro allies, who have for a long time celebrating the tough handling of inmates, had suddenly realized to their privileges. “Recently has the extreme right – which has always asserted that basic rights were not for offenders – decided to visit a penitentiary to find out what situations are truly like,” he stated.

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

Potential Incarceration Environment

Despite rumors that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which presently holds about fourteen thousand inmates, his probable location appears to be a nearby penitentiary for police officers and other “unique” prisoners called Papudinha (Small Papuda).

The accommodations are much more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a far cry from the luxury Bolsonaro had while occupying the spectacular official residence, about 12 miles away.

As per sources, the room Bolsonaro could anticipate reside in in Papudinha is about 24 square meters – about the size of vehicle spaces – and includes a 12 sq metre bathroom with a shower and a 130 square foot terrace. “He could be allowed to have a TV and also a minibar in his cell as long as they were supplied by his loved ones,” sources suggested.

Ideological Responses

Senator Lucas condemned the speculated idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “an act of revenge” on the part of the supreme court judge who oversaw Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will determine his future in the {

Sydney Trujillo
Sydney Trujillo

A renewable energy expert with over a decade of experience in solar and wind power systems, passionate about eco-friendly innovations.