Jailhouse Shock: The Ex-President Bolsonaro Faces Life Behind Bars

He contested the law and justice won.

Sixty days subsequent to getting a twenty-seven-year sentence for attempting to “destroy” the nation's democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now appears jail-bound.

Expected Incarceration

The convicted coup-monger – who had been subject to house arrest in his residence while a number of court processes and appeals play out – is broadly anticipated to be incarcerated in the coming days, amidst mounting speculation that he will be transferred to a well-known maximum security facility.

Past Comments on Convicts

During Bolsonaro’s four-decade time in politics, the right-wing ex- paratrooper exhibited little sympathy for Brazil’s jailed individuals.

“What’s the need to offer these scoundrels a easy time?” he once mused. “They should just get screwed, full-fucking-stop. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “Unless you desire to finish behind bars, you simply need is not rape, kidnap or rob.”

Jail Location Discussion

However the possibility of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has horrified supporters, several of whom this week visited the complex in an seeming bid to dissuade the judiciary from sending him there.

Senator Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was among that group, stated he predicted the septuagenarian politician to be incarcerated in the next 10 days and was concerned his destination could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute gut ailments – the consequence of a near-fatal stabbing during the last presidential campaign – signified it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His condition is extremely serious. He won’t be able to manage if they move him to Papuda … It will be dreadful,” he commented, who also expressed concern about overcrowded cells and the quality of jail cuisine.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells containing forty prisoners: “That’s almost one square meter per inmate.

“We talked to the convicts and they protest, unsurprisingly, of the terrible food,” continued the senator.

Supporters React

He is not the lone figure voicing opinions before the one-time head of state's predicted imprisonment.

Penning in a leading newspaper, a different supporter, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” public service and claimed Brazil was about to experience “the greatest wrong in its past”.

“It is an unfairness that gnaws the hearts of countless people in Brazil,” the former minister said.

Mixed Popular Opinion

That may be true given the substantial support Bolsonaro maintains on the right-wing. But his predicted incarceration has also warmed the spirits of many others who think he ought to be imprisoned for planning to stop his successor from assuming office – and also scheming to have him assassinated.

Reimont Otoni, a congressman for the sitting administration's political party, said: “Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. No one wants Bolsonaro to be put in segregation. No one wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We wish him to receive proper handling – but proper handling in prison. He must not carry on being his self-appointed guard for his lifetime.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro supporters, who have spent years celebrating the severe conditions of prisoners, had suddenly realized to their entitlements. “Only now has the extreme right – which has always claimed that human rights are not for lawbreakers – decided to visit a jail to discover what situations are really like,” he stated.

“The former president is a criminal,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he deserved “degrading, demeaning conduct”.

Potential Incarceration Conditions

Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently houses about fourteen thousand inmates, his probable location looks to be a adjacent penitentiary for police officers and other “unique” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

His potential cell are far more pleasant than those in the main prison, although still a world away from the luxury Bolsonaro experienced while occupying the stunning official residence, around a short distance away.

As per information, the cell Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – approximately the dimensions of vehicle spaces – and contains a 130 square foot WC with a water facility and a 12 sq metre veranda. “Bolsonaro would be permitted to have a set and even a minibar in his quarters as long as they were donated by his loved ones,” sources suggested.

Political Responses

He criticized the rumoured proposal to send the former leader to Papuda as “a form of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who oversaw Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will determine his outcome in the {

Hannah Stafford
Hannah Stafford

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in the online casino industry, specializing in slot machine mechanics and player psychology.