🔗 Share this article

He fought justice and the legal system triumphed.

A couple of months after getting a 27-year sentence for trying to “annihilate” Brazil’s democratic institutions, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro now appears jail-bound.

Expected Incarceration

The convicted instigator – who has been subject to residential detention in his mansion while a number of court processes and challenges unfold – is largely predicted to be jailed in the near future, during increasing speculation that he will be sent to a infamous maximum security penitentiary.

Historical Statements on Prisoners

During Bolsonaro’s long political career, the conservative former military man exhibited little sympathy for the country's inmates.

“Why should we provide these dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he once pondered. “They should just get fucked, end of story. That's my view.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to end up behind bars, you simply need is not rape, abduction or theft.”

Prison Destination Debate

But the prospect of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has horrified allies, several of whom this week visited the prison in an seeming attempt to prevent the judiciary from sending him there.

Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s political party who was among that group, stated he expected the 70-year-old politician to be imprisoned in the following week and a half and worried his assigned prison could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious gut ailments – the result of a near-fatal knife attack during the 2018 election race – implied it would be risky to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is extremely serious. He cannot to cope if they take him to Papuda … It would be terrible,” said the senator, who also expressed concern about packed cells and the standard of prison meals.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells accommodating 40 inmates: “That’s virtually one meter squared per inmate.

“We spoke to the prisoners and they protest, naturally, of the awful cuisine,” continued the senator.

Supporters Speak Out

He is not the lone figure voicing opinions before the one-time head of state's expected incarceration.

Writing in a leading daily, a different supporter, the ex- communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and alleged Brazil was about to experience “the greatest wrong in its history”.

“It is an unfairness that erodes the souls of millions Brazilian citizens,” the former minister said.

Divided Public Opinion

It is possibly true due to the significant following Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. But his expected incarceration has also gladdened the hearts of many individuals who think he should be incarcerated for planning to block his successor from assuming office – and also scheming to have him assassinated.

The lawmaker, a representative for the sitting president's allied group, commented: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a dungeon. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be sent in isolation. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to lie on concrete. We desire him to receive proper treatment – but proper handling while incarcerated. He must not continue being his self-appointed guard for his entire life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro allies, who have spent years celebrating the harsh conditions of prisoners, had abruptly woken up to their privileges. “Only now has the extreme right – which has repeatedly asserted that human rights should not be for criminals – chosen to tour a jail to find out what circumstances are truly like,” he stated.

“The former president is a lawbreaker,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he merited “degrading, insulting handling”.

Potential Jail Facilities

Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which presently contains about fourteen thousand inmates, his expected assigned facility appears to be a close jail for officers and other “particular” inmates known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

Its cells are far more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although still a world away from the comfort Bolsonaro had while occupying the impressive official residence, around 12 miles away.

According to information, the accommodation Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha measures about 24 square meters – roughly the area of vehicle spaces – and contains a 12 square meter bathroom with a water facility and a 12 square meter balcony. “The ex-president might be authorized to have a TV and even a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were donated by his relatives,” the report suggested.

Partisan Comments

Senator Lucas denounced the speculated idea to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the presiding magistrate who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will decide his outcome in the {