🔗 Share this article

He battled the legal system and the legal system prevailed.

Two months subsequent to receiving a twenty-seven-year sentence for seeking to “annihilate” the nation's democratic institutions, former president Jair Bolsonaro finally looks headed to prison.

Expected Imprisonment

The convicted plotter – who had been under house arrest in his residence while a number of judicial steps and petitions unfold – is broadly anticipated to be incarcerated in the coming days, amid mounting talk that he will be moved to a notorious high-security prison.

Past Statements on Prisoners

Over Bolsonaro’s 40-year time in politics, the conservative ex- military man displayed minimal mercy for the country's inmates.

“What’s the need to give those dirtbags a easy time?” he previously wondered. “They ought to simply be fucked, full-fucking-stop. That's my opinion.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro stated: “Should you not wish to finish in prison, the only thing required is to avoid rape, kidnap or rob.”

Jail Destination Discussion

Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked supporters, several of whom this week toured the facility in an obvious attempt to discourage the judiciary from sending him there.

The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was part of that quartet, claimed he anticipated the septuagenarian leader to be jailed in the coming fortnight and feared his destination could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s serious intestinal problems – the consequence of a near-fatal knife attack during the 2018 presidential election race – implied it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is very grave. He cannot to handle it if they send him to Papuda … It would be awful,” he added, who also voiced anxiety about overcrowded cells and the standard of prison meals.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas noted observing cells holding 40 inmates: “It's virtually one square meter per prisoner.

“We talked to the prisoners and they protest, naturally, of the terrible food,” remarked the senator.

Supporters React

He is not the only voice speaking out prior to the former president’s predicted detention.

Writing in a leading newspaper, a different supporter, the ex- communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “brutal” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” political career and claimed Brazil was about to witness “the greatest wrong in its past”.

“This is an wrong that gnaws the hearts of millions Brazilian citizens,” Wajngarten wrote.

Divided Popular Reaction

It is possibly correct given the substantial backing Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. Yet his expected jailing has also pleased the spirits of numerous other people who feel he ought to be incarcerated for plotting to prevent his successor from taking power – and even conspiring to have him assassinated.

Reimont Otoni, a politician for the incumbent leader's Workers’ party, commented: “No one wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be put in isolation. No one wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We want him to obtain proper care – but proper care behind bars. He cannot carry on being his own prison warden for his lifetime.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time praising the harsh treatment of inmates, had suddenly woken up to their rights. “Recently has the far-right – which has consistently claimed that basic rights were not for offenders – opted to inspect a prison to learn what conditions are really like,” he stated.

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

Likely Incarceration Conditions

Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which currently holds about fourteen thousand detainees, his more likely assigned facility seems to be a nearby jail for police officers and other “particular” inmates known as Papudinha (Small Papuda).

His potential cell are far more pleasant than those in the main prison, although nonetheless a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro experienced while living in the impressive official residence, around 20 kilometers away.

Based on reports, the cell Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – roughly the size of vehicle spaces – and features a 12 sq metre restroom with a shower and a 130 square foot balcony. “The ex-president might be permitted to have a set and additionally a cooler in his cell as long as they were donated by his loved ones,” sources indicated.

Partisan Comments

Senator Lucas condemned the rumoured proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will rule on his outcome in the {