Jailhouse Shock: The Ex-President Bolsonaro Confronts Time Behind Bars

He fought justice and justice won.

Sixty days following being handed a quarter-century plus sentence for seeking to “eradicate” Brazil’s democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro at last looks destined for incarceration.

Imminent Incarceration

The adjudicated plotter – who's been subject to house arrest in his residence while a set of judicial steps and appeals proceed – is broadly anticipated to be jailed in the next few days, amidst growing talk that he will be moved to a notorious maximum security prison.

Previous Statements on Inmates

During Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the right-wing former soldier displayed minimal sympathy for Brazil’s inmates.

“Why should we provide those dirtbags a easy time?” he previously wondered. “They should just get messed, period. That's my opinion.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to end up in prison, you simply need is not sexual assault, abduction or theft.”

Prison Location Debate

However the idea of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, several of whom this week inspected the complex in an seeming effort to discourage the high court from sending him there.

Izalci Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, said he anticipated the elderly leader to be jailed in the coming fortnight and was concerned his destination could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal issues – the result of a almost deadly knife attack during the 2018 presidential campaign – signified it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His condition is highly critical. He will not be able to cope if they take him to Papuda … It would be terrible,” he commented, who also worried about cramped cells and the standard of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled witnessing cells holding forty detainees: “It's virtually one square metre per prisoner.

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

Allies Speak Out

Lucas is not the only voice expressing views prior to the ex-leader's predicted detention.

Writing in a leading newspaper, one more backer, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “brutal” end to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” time in office and alleged Brazil was about to see “the greatest wrong in its record”.

“This is an wrong that eats away the souls of many people in Brazil,” he stated.

Varied General Opinion

This could be correct given the substantial support Bolsonaro holds on the right-wing. Yet his predicted imprisonment has also pleased the feelings of millions individuals who feel he deserves to be jailed for plotting to block his successor from becoming president – and additionally conspiring to have him killed.

Reimont Otoni, a representative for the current leader's allied group, commented: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a dark cell. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be put in isolation. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to get dignified care – but respectful handling while incarcerated. He can’t persist being his own prison warden for his lifetime.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have long celebrating the tough treatment of prisoners, had suddenly woken up to their entitlements. “Only now has the extreme right – which has always argued that civil liberties are not for lawbreakers – opted to inspect a penitentiary to learn what situations are really like,” he remarked.

“He is a criminal,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he earned “shameful, degrading handling”.

Potential Prison Environment

Regardless of talk that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently contains about fourteen thousand prisoners, his probable location looks to be a adjacent prison for law enforcement and other “special” detainees known as Papudinha (Small Papuda).

Its cells are considerably more comfortable than those in the main prison, although nevertheless a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro experienced while occupying the spectacular presidential palace, around 12 miles away.

As per sources, the cell Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – about the dimensions of two parking spaces – and features a 130 square foot WC with a shower and a 12 square meter terrace. “Bolsonaro would be allowed to have a set and additionally a cooler in his room as long as they were supplied by his family,” the report indicated.

Ideological Comments

The lawmaker criticized the rumoured plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “a form of payback” on the part of the supreme court judge who oversaw Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will determine his fate in the {

Nicole Carter
Nicole Carter

A seasoned gambling analyst with over a decade of experience in online casino reviews and player strategy development.