🔗 Share this article

He contested the legal system and the law prevailed.

Sixty days subsequent to getting a 27-year sentence for attempting to “eradicate” Brazil’s democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now appears destined for incarceration.

Expected Jailing

The adjudicated coup-monger – who has been living under house arrest in his mansion while a series of legal procedures and challenges play out – is widely expected to be jailed in the coming days, amidst increasing rumors that he will be transferred to a well-known maximum security prison.

Previous Remarks on Convicts

Throughout Bolsonaro’s 40-year time in politics, the far-right former military man displayed scant sympathy for the country's inmates.

“What’s the need to offer those dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They should just get fucked, full-fucking-stop. That’s what I reckon.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro stated: “Should you not wish to finish there, the only thing required is to avoid sexual assault, abduction or theft.”

Prison Location Discussion

However the prospect of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison high-security prison in Brasília has horrified backers, four of whom this week toured the complex in an apparent effort to prevent the high court from banishing him there.

The senator, a senator from Bolsonaro’s political party who was one of the visitors, stated he anticipated the 70-year-old politician to be jailed in the coming fortnight and worried his location could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s severe digestive issues – the consequence of a near-fatal assault during the last election race – implied it would be dangerous to keep the former president there. “His [health] situation is highly critical. He won’t be able to manage if they move him to Papuda … It would be terrible,” he added, who also worried about packed cells and the standard of prison meals.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas recalled witnessing cells accommodating four dozen inmates: “That is virtually one square metre per detainee.

“We talked to the convicts and they complain, of course, of the horrible food,” continued the senator.

Backers React

Lucas is not the only voice voicing opinions ahead of the one-time head of state's anticipated incarceration.

Authoring in a leading publication, a different supporter, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and claimed Brazil was about to witness “the biggest unfairness in its history”.

“It represents an injustice that eats away the hearts of many of Brazilians,” he stated.

Divided Popular Opinion

It is possibly accurate due to the significant following Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. Yet his predicted imprisonment has also gladdened the feelings of numerous others who feel he deserves to be imprisoned for conspiring to block the elected leader from becoming president – and even scheming to have him assassinated.

Congressman Otoni, a representative for the current administration's Workers’ party, commented: “No one wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a dark cell. No one desires Bolsonaro to be put in segregation. No one wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We desire him to receive respectful care – but respectful treatment in prison. He must not carry on being his own prison warden for his whole life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years applauding the tough conditions of inmates, had abruptly become aware to their rights. “Recently has the far-right – which has repeatedly argued that civil liberties should not be for lawbreakers – chosen to tour a jail to discover what situations are actually like,” he stated.

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

Likely Prison Environment

Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently contains about fourteen thousand detainees, his expected location looks to be a close prison for law enforcement and other “unique” detainees referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

The accommodations are far more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a world away from the luxury Bolsonaro enjoyed while living in the spectacular leader's home, approximately 20 kilometers away.

Based on information, the accommodation Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – about the size of vehicle spaces – and includes a 12 sq metre restroom with a bathing area and a 130 square foot balcony. “Bolsonaro would be permitted to have a TV and even a minibar in his quarters as long as they were provided by his family,” the report indicated.

Political Comments

Senator Lucas condemned the speculated plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “an act of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s legal case and will rule on his fate in the {