🔗 Share this article

He fought the legal system and the law triumphed.

A couple of months following receiving a twenty-seven-year sentence for seeking to “annihilate” Brazil’s democratic institutions, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now seems destined for incarceration.

Anticipated Imprisonment

The found-guilty coup-monger – who has been under residential detention in his residence while a number of judicial steps and petitions unfold – is largely predicted to be imprisoned in the near future, during increasing speculation that he will be transferred to a infamous high-security penitentiary.

Historical Remarks on Inmates

Over Bolsonaro’s four-decade public life, the right-wing ex- soldier showed little compassion for the country's prison population.

“What’s the need to offer these lowlifes a easy time?” he once pondered. “They deserve to be fucked, period. That’s what I reckon.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Should you not wish to finish behind bars, all you have to do is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”

Jail Destination Speculation

However the prospect of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, four of whom this week inspected the complex in an apparent attempt to dissuade the supreme court from transferring him there.

Izalci Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s political party who was one of the visitors, said he predicted the 70-year-old politician to be jailed in the coming fortnight and worried his destination could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s serious digestive problems – the consequence of a almost deadly assault during the 2018 presidential political campaign – implied it would be dangerous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His condition is highly critical. He cannot to manage if they move him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about packed cells and the standard of prison meals.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas noted witnessing cells containing four dozen detainees: “It's almost one meter squared per detainee.

“We spoke to the inmates and they grumble, unsurprisingly, of the terrible cuisine,” remarked the senator.

Allies Speak Out

The senator isn't the lone figure speaking out before the ex-leader's predicted incarceration.

Authoring in a leading publication, one more backer, the ex- communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” end to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” political career and asserted Brazil was about to witness “the largest political injustice in its record”.

“It represents an injustice that eats away the souls of countless people in Brazil,” he stated.

Divided Popular Reaction

That may be true considering the considerable support Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. Yet his anticipated incarceration has also gladdened the spirits of many individuals who believe he deserves to be jailed for plotting to stop the elected leader from becoming president – and also plotting to have him assassinated.

Congressman Otoni, a congressman for the incumbent president's political party, stated: “No one desires Bolsonaro to be sent in a dark cell. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. No one desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We want him to obtain dignified treatment – but respectful handling while incarcerated. He must not continue being his personal jailer for his entire life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years praising the tough conditions of inmates, had unexpectedly realized to their privileges. “Recently has the far-right – which has always argued that civil liberties should not be for offenders – decided to inspect a penitentiary to find out what conditions are truly like,” he stated.

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

Likely Prison Environment

Despite rumors that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently holds about fourteen thousand prisoners, his probable assigned facility looks to be a close prison for police officers and other “unique” prisoners known as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are considerably more pleasant than those in the primary facility, although nonetheless a distant from the luxury Bolsonaro had while occupying the impressive presidential palace, around 20 kilometers away.

According to reports, the room Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – roughly the size of two parking spaces – and features a 12 sq metre bathroom with a shower and a 12 square meter terrace. “Bolsonaro would be allowed to have a TV and additionally a cooler in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” information stated.

Political Reactions

The lawmaker denounced the rumoured proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will decide his outcome in the {