🔗 Share this article

He battled the legal system and justice triumphed.

Two months after being handed a twenty-seven-year sentence for trying to “annihilate” Brazil’s political system, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro at last looks destined for incarceration.

Imminent Incarceration

The convicted coup-monger – who's been subject to house arrest in his mansion while a series of legal procedures and appeals unfold – is largely predicted to be incarcerated in the near future, during growing rumors that he will be sent to a well-known top-security facility.

Historical Statements on Inmates

Throughout Bolsonaro’s long public life, the far-right former paratrooper showed minimal mercy for Brazil’s inmates.

“Why should we offer these dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he previously wondered. “They ought to simply be fucked, end of story. That’s what I reckon.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to wind up in prison, the only thing required is not sexual assault, abduction or theft.”

Jail Destination Discussion

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, several of whom this week toured the prison in an seeming bid to discourage the high court from banishing him there.

Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was among that group, stated he anticipated the elderly leader to be jailed in the following week and a half and feared his destination could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s acute gut issues – the consequence of a almost deadly assault during the 2018 presidential campaign – implied it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His condition is very grave. He cannot to manage if they move him to Papuda … It would be terrible,” said the senator, who also expressed concern about packed cells and the quality of prison meals.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells accommodating 40 detainees: “It's virtually one square meter per prisoner.

“We spoke to the convicts and they complain, naturally, of the terrible meals,” remarked the senator.

Allies React

Lucas is not the sole person voicing opinions prior to the ex-leader's expected incarceration.

Authoring in a major newspaper, one more backer, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” public service and alleged Brazil was about to see “the greatest unfairness in its record”.

“This is an injustice that eats away the spirits of millions of Brazilians,” the former minister said.

Divided Public Reaction

That may be correct given the substantial support Bolsonaro holds on the right-wing. However his expected imprisonment has also gladdened the spirits of numerous other people who feel he deserves to be imprisoned for planning to prevent the incoming president from becoming president – and even plotting to have him killed.

Congressman Otoni, a politician for the current leader's political party, commented: “No one wants Bolsonaro to be placed in a dungeon. No one wants Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We desire him to get dignified care – but proper handling while incarcerated. He must not continue being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro allies, who have spent years praising the harsh handling of prisoners, had unexpectedly realized to their rights. “Recently has the conservative fringe – which has always claimed that civil liberties are not for offenders – opted to inspect a jail to find out what circumstances are actually like,” he remarked.

“The former president is a offender,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he merited “humiliating, demeaning treatment”.

Possible Jail Environment

In spite of talk that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which currently contains about thousands of detainees, his expected assigned facility looks to be a adjacent jail for law enforcement and other “particular” detainees known as Papudinha (Small Papuda).

His potential cell are far more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although still a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro enjoyed while living in the spectacular presidential palace, approximately a short distance away.

Based on sources, the room Bolsonaro could expect to reside in in Papudinha is about 24 square meters – roughly the dimensions of two parking spaces – and includes a 12 square meter bathroom with a water facility and a 130 square foot veranda. “He could be allowed to have a television and also a minibar in his quarters as long as they were donated by his family,” information suggested.

Partisan Comments

He denounced the rumoured plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the presiding magistrate who oversaw Bolsonaro’s legal case and will rule on his fate in the {