🔗 Share this article

He contested the legal system and the law prevailed.

Two months subsequent to getting a twenty-seven-year sentence for attempting to “annihilate” the nation's political system, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro finally appears destined for incarceration.

Expected Imprisonment

The adjudicated instigator – who had been living under house arrest in his mansion while a series of legal procedures and appeals unfold – is broadly anticipated to be jailed in the next few days, amid increasing rumors that he will be transferred to a notorious high-security penitentiary.

Past Comments on Convicts

Throughout Bolsonaro’s 40-year time in politics, the right-wing former military man displayed scant sympathy for the country's prison population.

“Why should we provide these dirtbags a good life?” he once mused. “They should just get screwed, end of story. That's my view.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro stated: “If you don’t want to wind up behind bars, all you have to do is not sexual assault, abduction or theft.”

Jail Location Debate

But the prospect of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has shocked allies, several of whom this week visited the complex in an apparent attempt to discourage the judiciary from sending him there.

Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was among that group, stated he expected the septuagenarian figure to be jailed in the next 10 days and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s severe gut problems – the result of a near-fatal stabbing during the 2018 presidential campaign – meant it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is extremely serious. He will not be able to manage if they move him to Papuda … It could be dreadful,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about packed cells and the condition of prison meals.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells containing forty detainees: “That is virtually one square metre per inmate.

“We talked to the prisoners and they complain, naturally, of the awful cuisine,” added the senator.

Allies Speak Out

He is not the sole person speaking out ahead of the ex-leader's expected incarceration.

Writing in a prominent publication, a different supporter, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” political career and claimed Brazil was about to see “the greatest unfairness in its record”.

“It represents an wrong that eats away the hearts of many people in Brazil,” he stated.

Varied Popular Reaction

That may be correct due to the substantial backing Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. Yet his expected incarceration has also warmed the feelings of many others who think he should be incarcerated for conspiring to stop the elected leader from taking power – and additionally plotting to have him killed.

The lawmaker, a politician for the sitting leader's political party, said: “Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be sent in a dark cell. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We desire him to obtain proper handling – but proper care behind bars. He cannot carry on being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro allies, who have spent years celebrating the harsh treatment of prisoners, had suddenly woken up to their rights. “Just now has the extreme right – which has always asserted that human rights are not for lawbreakers – chosen to visit a jail to find out what conditions are truly like,” he stated.

“The former president is a offender,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he earned “degrading, demeaning handling”.

Possible Incarceration Environment

Despite rumors that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now houses about fourteen thousand detainees, his expected location seems to be a nearby penitentiary for law enforcement and other “unique” inmates called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are much more pleasant than those in the larger jail, although nevertheless a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro experienced while occupying the stunning official residence, about a short distance away.

As per information, the accommodation Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha is about 260 square feet – roughly the area of two parking spaces – and contains a 12 square meter WC with a water facility and a 12 square meter terrace. “He could be allowed to have a television and even a minibar in his quarters as long as they were donated by his family,” the report stated.

Political Reactions

The lawmaker denounced the talked-about proposal to send the former leader to Papuda as “an act of payback” on the part of the supreme court judge who oversaw Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will decide his outcome in the {