🔗 Share this article

He battled the legal system and the law prevailed.

A couple of months after being handed a quarter-century plus sentence for seeking to “destroy” the nation's democratic institutions, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro at last looks jail-bound.

Imminent Jailing

The adjudicated coup-monger – who had been living under home confinement in his mansion while a number of court processes and petitions proceed – is widely expected to be jailed in the near future, during growing speculation that he will be transferred to a well-known top-security prison.

Historical Statements on Prisoners

During Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the far-right ex- soldier displayed scant compassion for the country's prison population.

“Why should we give these scoundrels a good life?” he once mused. “They should just get messed, end of story. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “If you don’t want to wind up there, all you have to do is to avoid rape, abduction or theft.”

Jail Destination Debate

But the idea of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has horrified backers, four of whom this week toured the complex in an seeming attempt to prevent the judiciary from transferring him there.

Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was one of the visitors, claimed he anticipated the elderly figure to be incarcerated in the next 10 days and worried his destination could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s serious intestinal ailments – the outcome of a near-fatal knife attack during the last political campaign – meant it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His condition is extremely serious. He won’t be able to manage if they move him to Papuda … It will be dreadful,” he added, who also voiced anxiety about overcrowded cells and the quality of prison meals.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas remembered seeing cells holding four dozen detainees: “That is practically one square metre per detainee.

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

Supporters Speak Out

He is not the lone figure speaking out ahead of the former president’s expected incarceration.

Authoring in a major daily, one more backer, the ex- communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “brutal” finale to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” political career and asserted Brazil was about to witness “the biggest political injustice in its record”.

“This is an unfairness that erodes the hearts of many people in Brazil,” he stated.

Mixed Public Opinion

It is possibly accurate considering the substantial backing Bolsonaro holds on the conservative side. Yet his expected jailing has also gladdened the spirits of millions individuals who believe he deserves to be incarcerated for conspiring to block the incoming president from becoming president – and even conspiring to have him murdered.

The lawmaker, a politician for the current leader's political party, stated: “No one wants Bolsonaro to be put in a dungeon. Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. No one desires Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We want him to obtain respectful treatment – but respectful treatment while incarcerated. He can’t continue being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time praising the harsh conditions of inmates, had abruptly woken up to their privileges. “Just now has the extreme right – which has repeatedly claimed that civil liberties were not for criminals – opted to inspect a jail to discover what situations are actually like,” he stated.

“He is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “shameful, demeaning handling”.

Possible Incarceration Environment

Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently holds about fourteen thousand inmates, his expected destination seems to be a close prison for officers and other “unique” detainees known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

Its cells are considerably more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although nevertheless a far cry from the comfort Bolsonaro enjoyed while living in the spectacular leader's home, about 20 kilometers away.

Based on sources, the accommodation Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – roughly the area of two parking spaces – and contains a 130 square foot WC with a bathing area and a 12 square meter balcony. “The ex-president might be authorized to have a TV and additionally a small fridge in his cell as long as they were provided by his loved ones,” information stated.

Political Reactions

He condemned the rumoured plan to send the ex-president to Papuda as “an act of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who oversaw Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will decide his future in the {