🔗 Share this article

He fought justice and the law won.

A couple of months subsequent to being handed a quarter-century plus sentence for seeking to “destroy” the nation's democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now seems destined for incarceration.

Imminent Incarceration

The found-guilty instigator – who has been living under house arrest in his estate while a set of legal procedures and appeals unfold – is broadly anticipated to be jailed in the coming days, amid growing rumors that he will be sent to a notorious top-security facility.

Historical Comments on Prisoners

Over Bolsonaro’s long public life, the right-wing former soldier showed little mercy for Brazil’s jailed individuals.

“What’s the need to provide these scoundrels a comfortable existence?” he once pondered. “They ought to simply be messed, end of story. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “Unless you desire to wind up behind bars, the only thing required is to avoid rape, kidnap or rob.”

Jail Destination Speculation

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has horrified backers, several of whom this week visited the prison in an apparent attempt to discourage the judiciary from sending him there.

Senator Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, claimed he expected the septuagenarian politician to be imprisoned in the following week and a half and worried his assigned prison could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s severe digestive issues – the outcome of a life-threatening assault during the 2018 election race – meant it would be dangerous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His health is extremely serious. He cannot to handle it if they take him to Papuda … It would be dreadful,” he commented, who also worried about overcrowded cells and the standard of jail cuisine.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas noted observing cells accommodating forty detainees: “That’s almost one meter squared per prisoner.

“We spoke to the convicts and they grumble, of course, of the terrible food,” added the senator.

Allies Voice Concerns

He is not the lone figure expressing views before the one-time head of state's expected detention.

Authoring in a leading newspaper, another ally, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “harsh” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” political career and asserted Brazil was about to witness “the greatest unfairness in its history”.

“It is an wrong that eats away the souls of many Brazilian citizens,” the former minister said.

Divided Public Response

This could be correct due to the significant following Bolsonaro maintains on the conservative side. Yet his predicted jailing has also pleased the hearts of many individuals who believe he deserves to be imprisoned for planning to block the elected leader from taking power – and also conspiring to have him murdered.

The lawmaker, a representative for the incumbent president's political party, stated: “Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in segregation. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We desire him to obtain dignified handling – but dignified care in prison. He cannot continue being his self-appointed guard for his whole life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long celebrating the tough handling of prisoners, had abruptly realized to their privileges. “Recently has the extreme right – which has always argued that civil liberties are not for criminals – decided to tour a jail to discover what circumstances are really like,” he remarked.

“The former president is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, demeaning treatment”.

Potential Incarceration Facilities

Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which now houses about fourteen thousand inmates, his probable destination appears to be a adjacent prison for police officers and other “unique” inmates called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

The accommodations are much more pleasant than those in the main prison, although nonetheless a far cry from the luxury Bolsonaro experienced while residing in the stunning leader's home, around 20 kilometers away.

Based on information, the room Bolsonaro could likely inhabit in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – roughly the dimensions of a couple of car spots – and includes a 130 square foot restroom with a bathing area and a 130 square foot terrace. “He could be authorized to have a set and also a minibar in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his family,” information indicated.

Ideological Reactions

The lawmaker condemned the speculated plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the presiding magistrate who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will determine his future in the {