🔗 Share this article

He battled the legal system and the law won.

Sixty days subsequent to being handed a quarter-century plus sentence for seeking to “eradicate” Brazil’s democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro now appears destined for incarceration.

Expected Jailing

The convicted instigator – who has been subject to residential detention in his mansion while a number of legal procedures and petitions unfold – is broadly anticipated to be imprisoned in the near future, during increasing rumors that he will be sent to a infamous high-security prison.

Past Statements on Convicts

Over Bolsonaro’s four-decade public life, the far-right former soldier displayed scant mercy for Brazil’s prison population.

“Why should we provide these scoundrels a easy time?” he once mused. “They ought to simply be screwed, period. That’s what I reckon.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to end up there, the only thing required is not sexual assault, abduction or rob.”

Jail Destination Debate

However the idea of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has horrified backers, four of whom this week inspected the complex in an obvious attempt to dissuade the judiciary from banishing him there.

Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was among that group, stated he anticipated the 70-year-old politician to be incarcerated in the next 10 days and was concerned his destination could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute gut problems – the consequence of a almost deadly knife attack during the 2018 presidential election race – meant it would be risky to keep the one-time head of state there. “His condition is extremely serious. He cannot to handle it if they move him to Papuda … It would be dreadful,” said the senator, who also expressed concern about overcrowded cells and the standard of jail cuisine.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells containing four dozen inmates: “That is practically one square metre per prisoner.

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

Supporters React

He is not the sole person speaking out before the one-time head of state's predicted imprisonment.

Writing in a major publication, one more backer, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “brutal” end to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to experience “the biggest political injustice in its history”.

“It is an wrong that gnaws the souls of millions of Brazilians,” Wajngarten wrote.

Varied Public Opinion

This could be true given the substantial following Bolsonaro retains on the Brazilian right. However his anticipated jailing has also pleased the hearts of many individuals who believe he deserves to be jailed for planning to prevent the incoming president from taking power – and additionally scheming to have him murdered.

Reimont Otoni, a congressman for the sitting administration's political party, stated: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be put in a hole. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be put in isolation. No one wishes Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We wish him to get dignified care – but respectful treatment behind bars. He must not carry on being his self-appointed guard for his entire life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro allies, who have spent years praising the tough handling of prisoners, had abruptly realized to their privileges. “Only now has the extreme right – which has consistently claimed that basic rights were not for criminals – decided to inspect a penitentiary to find out what conditions are really like,” he stated.

“He is a criminal,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, degrading handling”.

Possible Incarceration Conditions

In spite of speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently houses about 14,000 detainees, his expected location appears to be a nearby penitentiary for officers and other “unique” detainees called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are much more adequate than those in the main prison, although nonetheless a far cry from the opulence Bolsonaro had while residing in the impressive official residence, about 20 kilometers away.

Based on information, the room Bolsonaro could likely inhabit in Papudinha measures about 24 square meters – approximately the area of two parking spaces – and contains a 12 square meter bathroom with a water facility and a 12 square meter balcony. “He could be authorized to have a television and additionally a cooler in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” the report stated.

Ideological Comments

Senator Lucas criticized the talked-about plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “a type of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will rule on his outcome in the {