Prison Surprise: Brazil's FormerPresident Jair Bolsonaro Faces Time Behind Bars

He fought the law and justice triumphed.

A couple of months subsequent to getting a 27-year sentence for seeking to “destroy” Brazil’s democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro finally appears jail-bound.

Expected Jailing

The adjudicated coup-monger – who has been under house arrest in his residence while a series of legal procedures and petitions unfold – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the near future, during increasing talk that he will be moved to a well-known high-security facility.

Previous Comments on Prisoners

Over Bolsonaro’s long public life, the far-right former military man displayed minimal sympathy for Brazil’s prison population.

“What’s the need to give those dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They should just get screwed, end of story. That’s what I reckon.”

At another time, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Should you not wish to finish there, the only thing required is to avoid rape, kidnap or rob.”

Jail Location Speculation

Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, four of whom this week visited the prison in an obvious bid to discourage the high court from sending him there.

Izalci Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was part of that quartet, said he anticipated the 70-year-old politician to be jailed in the coming fortnight and feared his location could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s serious gut problems – the consequence of a life-threatening knife attack during the last election race – meant it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is highly critical. He cannot to cope if they move him to Papuda … It could be dreadful,” said the senator, who also worried about overcrowded cells and the condition of prison meals.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas noted observing cells holding four dozen inmates: “It's virtually one square metre per prisoner.

“We talked to the convicts and they grumble, unsurprisingly, of the awful meals,” remarked the senator.

Backers React

Lucas is not the sole person voicing opinions prior to the former president’s anticipated imprisonment.

Penning in a leading newspaper, one more backer, the ex- government official Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to experience “the largest political injustice in its record”.

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

Mixed Public Opinion

This could be accurate considering the significant following Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. Yet his predicted jailing has also warmed the spirits of millions others who feel he should be incarcerated for plotting to prevent his successor from becoming president – and also plotting to have him killed.

Reimont Otoni, a representative for the incumbent president's allied group, commented: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in a dungeon. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in solitary confinement. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to lie on concrete. We want him to obtain proper care – but dignified care behind bars. He must not continue being his own prison warden for his lifetime.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro allies, who have long praising the severe conditions of inmates, had abruptly woken up to their rights. “Recently has the extreme right – which has consistently argued that basic rights were not for offenders – decided to tour a prison to discover what circumstances are truly like,” he remarked.

“Bolsonaro is a offender,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he merited “shameful, degrading handling”.

Potential Incarceration Facilities

Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which currently houses about fourteen thousand prisoners, his probable assigned facility looks to be a adjacent prison for law enforcement and other “particular” detainees called Papudinha (Small Papuda).

His potential cell are far more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a world away from the luxury Bolsonaro experienced while living in the stunning official residence, about a short distance away.

According to reports, the room Bolsonaro could anticipate reside in in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – roughly the area of vehicle spaces – and features a 12 square meter bathroom with a bathing area and a 12 square meter terrace. “The ex-president might be authorized to have a television and additionally a cooler in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his loved ones,” the report indicated.

Political Reactions

The lawmaker condemned the talked-about proposal to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a form of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who led Bolsonaro’s legal case and will decide his fate in the {

Justin Taylor
Justin Taylor

A film enthusiast and critic with over a decade of experience in reviewing movies and curating streaming content.