Prison Surprise: Brazil's FormerPresident Bolsonaro Confronts Time in Prison

He fought the legal system and the law prevailed.

Two months after being handed a 27-year sentence for seeking to “destroy” Brazil’s democratic institutions, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro finally looks headed to prison.

Imminent Imprisonment

The found-guilty instigator – who had been living under residential detention in his mansion while a number of court processes and petitions play out – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the near future, during increasing talk that he will be sent to a infamous high-security facility.

Historical Comments on Convicts

Over Bolsonaro’s 40-year time in politics, the conservative ex- military man showed little compassion for the country's jailed individuals.

“What’s the need to give these lowlifes a easy time?” he once mused. “They deserve to be screwed, end of story. That's my view.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Unless you desire to finish in prison, all you have to do is to avoid sexual assault, abduction or rob.”

Incarceration Facility Debate

Yet the idea of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, four of whom this week toured the facility in an apparent bid to dissuade the high court from transferring him there.

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

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious intestinal problems – the consequence of a near-fatal knife attack during the last election race – signified it would be hazardous to keep the former president there. “His health is extremely serious. He cannot to handle it if they move him to Papuda … It would be awful,” said the senator, who also voiced anxiety about overcrowded cells and the standard of jail cuisine.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas noted seeing cells holding four dozen detainees: “It's almost one square meter per inmate.

“We conversed to the prisoners and they grumble, naturally, of the horrible cuisine,” added the senator.

Allies React

Lucas is not the lone figure voicing opinions prior to the one-time head of state's expected detention.

Penning in a major daily, a different supporter, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” finale to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” public service and alleged Brazil was about to experience “the greatest wrong in its record”.

“It is an wrong that erodes the spirits of millions of Brazilians,” the former minister said.

Divided Public Reaction

It is possibly correct due to the substantial support Bolsonaro holds on the Brazilian right. Yet his predicted incarceration has also warmed the spirits of numerous individuals who think he ought to be imprisoned for conspiring to block the elected leader from taking power – and even conspiring to have him killed.

Congressman Otoni, a congressman for the incumbent leader's political party, said: “Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be put in a hole. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We wish him to receive dignified treatment – but dignified treatment in prison. He must not continue being his own prison warden for his lifetime.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro supporters, who have spent years praising the harsh handling of convicts, had abruptly realized to their rights. “Recently has the far-right – which has repeatedly argued that human rights are not for criminals – chosen to tour a jail to find out what situations are truly like,” he stated.

“He is a criminal,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he deserved “shameful, insulting treatment”.

Likely Incarceration Conditions

Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which currently holds about fourteen thousand inmates, his more likely destination appears to be a nearby penitentiary for officers and other “particular” prisoners known as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are much more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although still a far cry from the comfort Bolsonaro experienced while living in the stunning leader's home, around 20 kilometers away.

As per reports, the accommodation Bolsonaro could likely inhabit in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – approximately the size of vehicle spaces – and contains a 12 sq metre restroom with a bathing area and a 130 square foot veranda. “He could be permitted to have a television and also a minibar in his room as long as they were provided by his family,” information indicated.

Ideological Comments

He condemned the rumoured idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who oversaw Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will rule on his outcome in the {

Brandon Hayes
Brandon Hayes

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in casino strategy and slot machine mechanics.