Jailhouse Surprise: The Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Time Behind Bars

He battled justice and the legal system prevailed.

Two months subsequent to being handed a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “eradicate” the nation's democracy, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro finally seems destined for incarceration.

Imminent Jailing

The found-guilty instigator – who's been living under home confinement in his mansion while a series of court processes and petitions unfold – is largely predicted to be incarcerated in the near future, amid increasing rumors that he will be sent to a infamous top-security prison.

Past Statements on Inmates

During Bolsonaro’s 40-year time in politics, the right-wing former paratrooper exhibited little mercy for Brazil’s prison population.

“For what reason must we offer those scoundrels a comfortable existence?” he once pondered. “They should just get fucked, full-fucking-stop. That's my opinion.”

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

Jail Destination Discussion

But the idea of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has shocked allies, four of whom this week visited the prison in an apparent attempt to discourage the supreme court from banishing him there.

Izalci Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was part of that quartet, claimed he predicted the 70-year-old leader to be jailed in the following week and a half and worried his destination could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s acute digestive problems – the consequence of a life-threatening stabbing during the 2018 presidential presidential campaign – signified it would be hazardous to keep the former president there. “His condition is extremely serious. He cannot to manage if they take him to Papuda … It could be awful,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about cramped cells and the quality of prison meals.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas remembered seeing cells holding forty inmates: “That’s practically one meter squared per prisoner.

“We spoke to the convicts and they complain, of course, of the awful cuisine,” remarked the senator.

Backers Speak Out

Lucas is not the only voice expressing views prior to the one-time head of state's predicted incarceration.

Writing in a leading publication, another ally, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “harsh” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” time in office and claimed Brazil was about to experience “the greatest wrong in its past”.

“It is an wrong that erodes the spirits of many Brazilian citizens,” Wajngarten wrote.

Mixed General Opinion

This could be correct given the substantial following Bolsonaro retains on the conservative side. But his predicted incarceration has also gladdened the spirits of millions others who think he should be jailed for plotting to stop the elected leader from taking power – and also conspiring to have him killed.

Reimont Otoni, a congressman for the incumbent president's political party, said: “No one wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be put in isolation. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We wish him to get dignified care – but proper handling behind bars. He must not persist being his own prison warden for his whole life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time celebrating the tough treatment of prisoners, had abruptly woken up to their entitlements. “Only now has the far-right – which has always claimed that human rights were not for lawbreakers – opted to tour a prison to discover what situations are actually like,” he stated.

“Bolsonaro is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he earned “humiliating, degrading handling”.

Likely Prison Facilities

In spite of speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently houses about 14,000 prisoners, his expected location appears to be a adjacent penitentiary for law enforcement and other “unique” detainees called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

His potential cell are considerably more pleasant than those in the main prison, although nonetheless a far cry from the luxury Bolsonaro had while living in the impressive presidential palace, about a short distance away.

As per reports, the cell Bolsonaro could likely inhabit in Papudinha has about 24 square meters – approximately the dimensions of vehicle spaces – and includes a 130 square foot WC with a shower and a 12 square meter terrace. “Bolsonaro would be permitted to have a TV and additionally a cooler in his room as long as they were donated by his family,” the report indicated.

Political Reactions

Senator Lucas denounced the talked-about idea to send the former leader to Papuda as “an act of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will decide his future in the {

Matthew Stone
Matthew Stone

A cultural anthropologist and travel writer specializing in Nordic regions, with over a decade of experience documenting Scandinavian traditions.