🔗 Share this article

He contested the legal system and the legal system won.

A couple of months subsequent to getting a 27-year sentence for seeking to “destroy” the nation's democratic institutions, former president Jair Bolsonaro now appears jail-bound.

Anticipated Incarceration

The found-guilty coup-monger – who has been living under home confinement in his mansion while a series of court processes and appeals play out – is largely predicted to be jailed in the next few days, during growing rumors that he will be sent to a notorious top-security prison.

Historical Comments on Convicts

Throughout Bolsonaro’s 40-year political career, the right-wing former paratrooper displayed little sympathy for the country's prison population.

“For what reason must we provide those dirtbags a easy time?” he once mused. “They deserve to be messed, end of story. That’s what I reckon.”

At another time, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Unless you desire to end up behind bars, you simply need is to avoid rape, kidnap or theft.”

Jail Destination Discussion

However the idea of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked supporters, four of whom this week visited the facility in an apparent attempt to prevent the supreme court from banishing him there.

Senator Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was part of that quartet, said he predicted the elderly politician to be imprisoned in the following week and a half and was concerned his location could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s serious gut ailments – the outcome of a life-threatening stabbing during the last presidential campaign – signified it would be dangerous to keep the ex-leader there. “His condition is very grave. He won’t be able to handle it if they move him to Papuda … It will be dreadful,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about cramped cells and the condition of inmate food.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas remembered seeing cells containing four dozen prisoners: “That is virtually one meter squared per inmate.

“We spoke to the convicts and they protest, naturally, of the horrible food,” remarked the senator.

Allies Speak Out

The senator isn't the lone figure voicing opinions prior to the former president’s anticipated imprisonment.

Authoring in a major publication, another ally, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “severe” end to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” time in office and alleged Brazil was about to witness “the largest political injustice in its history”.

“It is an wrong that erodes the souls of millions people in Brazil,” Wajngarten wrote.

Divided Public Reaction

That may be true considering the substantial backing Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. But his predicted imprisonment has also warmed the spirits of millions others who believe he deserves to be jailed for conspiring to stop the incoming president from assuming office – and additionally conspiring to have him killed.

Congressman Otoni, a politician for the sitting leader's Workers’ party, stated: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a dungeon. No one wants Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We wish him to get proper treatment – but respectful treatment while incarcerated. He can’t persist being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years celebrating the tough handling of prisoners, had suddenly realized to their rights. “Recently has the far-right – which has consistently argued that civil liberties are not for offenders – decided to visit a jail to discover what conditions are truly like,” he stated.

“He is a criminal,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he merited “degrading, insulting treatment”.

Likely Prison Environment

Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which now holds about thousands of prisoners, his expected destination looks to be a nearby jail for law enforcement and other “unique” detainees referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

His potential cell are considerably more comfortable than those in the main prison, although nonetheless a world away from the comfort Bolsonaro experienced while occupying the impressive leader's home, around 12 miles away.

As per reports, the accommodation Bolsonaro could expect to reside in in Papudinha measures about 24 square meters – approximately the area of two parking spaces – and contains a 12 sq metre restroom with a bathing area and a 12 sq metre veranda. “The ex-president might be allowed to have a TV and even a small fridge in his room as long as they were provided by his relatives,” the report stated.

Ideological Responses

He criticized the rumoured plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “a type of payback” on the part of the supreme court judge who oversaw Bolsonaro’s legal case and will decide his future in the {