Débora do Batom Describes Prison Conditions and Family Impact in First Interview
By Hotspotnews
Débora Rodrigues, known publicly as “Débora do Batom,” spoke in her first extended interview after leaving closed prison regime about the conditions she faced following her arrest and about the effects on her two sons. Rodrigues, a hairdresser from Paulínia in São Paulo state, became widely known after photographs showed her writing the phrase “Perdeu, Mané” in lipstick on the statue of Justice in front of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court during the January 8, 2023 events in Brasília.
She was arrested in March 2023 in the presence of her children, then ages 8 and 11, and later convicted by the First Panel of the Supreme Federal Court to 14 years in prison on charges that included deterioration of listed heritage property, qualified damage, attempted coup d’état, violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, and armed criminal association. She has since been transferred to house arrest under electronic monitoring.
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In the interview, conducted by Revista Oeste and circulated in excerpts in October 2026, Rodrigues described the first days of detention. She said the hygiene kit she received was soaked in urine, leaving her unable to use the accompanying blanket at night because it was wet. She recounted cells that smelled strongly of feces and urine, walls marked with feces and blood, limited light, and periods of intense cold. She said she read a Bible by the narrow opening through which food was passed and spent nights kneeling beside a bed because of stomach pain and the condition of the cell. She also described body searches she considered degrading and transfers in which she was handcuffed at the wrists and ankles.
Rodrigues linked the period of separation to changes she observed in her children. She said one son, whose name she chose because it means cheerful, stopped smiling during visits and that the psychological effects remained visible after her release to house arrest. She stated that she had no contact with her family in the earliest days and that some prison staff were cordial while others added to the humiliation.
The interview has been shared by accounts that contrast the reported treatment with the sentences and temporary releases granted to other categories of prisoners, and that urge the accounts not to be set aside in discussions of any political agreement or amnesty related to the January 8 cases. Court records and official reporting establish the conviction and the later move to house arrest; the specific descriptions of cell conditions and the urine-soaked kit come from Rodrigues’ own statements in the interview.
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Sources: Interview statements by Débora Rodrigues published by Revista Oeste (April 2026); Supreme Federal Court conviction ruling (April 2025); reports on transfer to house arrest (March and September 2025).
