🔗 Share this article

He contested the law and justice won.

Two months following receiving a twenty-seven-year sentence for trying to “eradicate” the nation's democracy, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro now appears destined for incarceration.

Anticipated Incarceration

The adjudicated coup-monger – who had been subject to residential detention in his mansion while a number of judicial steps and challenges play out – is largely predicted to be imprisoned in the coming days, during growing talk that he will be transferred to a notorious high-security prison.

Past Statements on Inmates

During Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the conservative ex- soldier displayed scant sympathy for the country's prison population.

“For what reason must we provide those scoundrels a easy time?” he once mused. “They ought to simply be messed, end of story. That's my view.”

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

Jail Facility Discussion

But the idea of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has appalled supporters, a group of four this week toured the facility in an obvious bid to discourage the judiciary from banishing him there.

Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, claimed he predicted the 70-year-old politician to be jailed in the coming fortnight and was concerned his destination could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal ailments – the result of a near-fatal assault during the 2018 presidential political campaign – implied it would be dangerous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His health is extremely serious. He won’t be able to cope if they move him to Papuda … It would be awful,” said the senator, who also expressed concern about cramped cells and the condition of prison meals.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells containing 40 prisoners: “It's almost one meter squared per detainee.

“We spoke to the prisoners and they protest, of course, of the horrible meals,” remarked the senator.

Backers React

He is not the only voice expressing views before the former president’s predicted incarceration.

Penning in a prominent daily, another ally, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “severe” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to experience “the greatest political injustice in its history”.

“This is an injustice that gnaws the spirits of millions of Brazilians,” he stated.

Varied Public Response

That may be true due to the significant backing Bolsonaro maintains on the conservative side. However his anticipated imprisonment has also warmed the hearts of millions others who think he ought to be jailed for conspiring to stop the elected leader from taking power – and also scheming to have him murdered.

Congressman Otoni, a congressman for the current administration's allied group, said: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in a dark cell. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be sent in isolation. No one desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We want him to receive respectful care – but dignified handling behind bars. He can’t continue being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”

He observed how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time celebrating the harsh conditions of prisoners, had unexpectedly woken up to their privileges. “Only now has the extreme right – which has always claimed that human rights should not be for offenders – chosen to inspect a jail to find out what circumstances are actually like,” he said.

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

Potential Jail Facilities

Regardless of talk that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which currently houses about 14,000 inmates, his more likely location seems to be a nearby prison for officers and other “unique” inmates called Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

Its cells are considerably more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although still a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro had while occupying the impressive official residence, approximately a short distance away.

According to sources, the room Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha is about 260 square feet – about the dimensions of a couple of car spots – and contains a 12 square meter WC with a bathing area and a 130 square foot terrace. “Bolsonaro would be permitted to have a TV and even a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his family,” sources suggested.

Ideological Reactions

The lawmaker denounced the speculated idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a type of payback” on the part of the supreme court judge who oversaw Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will decide his future in the {