🔗 Share this article

He fought the legal system and the law prevailed.

Sixty days following getting a quarter-century plus sentence for attempting to “annihilate” Brazil’s democratic institutions, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro at last seems headed to prison.

Imminent Incarceration

The adjudicated plotter – who had been under residential detention in his estate while a set of judicial steps and challenges play out – is broadly anticipated to be imprisoned in the next few days, amidst increasing talk that he will be moved to a well-known top-security prison.

Historical Statements on Inmates

During Bolsonaro’s long public life, the far-right ex- paratrooper exhibited little compassion for the country's jailed individuals.

“For what reason must we offer these dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he once pondered. “They ought to simply be screwed, full-fucking-stop. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Unless you desire to end up behind bars, you simply need is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”

Incarceration Facility Speculation

But the prospect of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, several of whom this week visited the facility in an obvious effort to prevent the judiciary from sending him there.

Senator Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was among that group, claimed he expected the 70-year-old leader to be incarcerated in the next 10 days and feared his destination could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute gut problems – the consequence of a life-threatening knife attack during the last presidential campaign – signified it would be hazardous to keep the former president there. “His health is extremely serious. He won’t be able to cope if they send him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he added, who also voiced anxiety about cramped cells and the standard of prison meals.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas noted observing cells containing forty prisoners: “That’s almost one square meter per prisoner.

“We spoke to the convicts and they protest, of course, of the awful food,” continued the senator.

Backers Voice Concerns

He is not the only voice expressing views prior to the former president’s predicted detention.

Writing in a leading publication, a different supporter, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” political career and claimed Brazil was about to see “the greatest unfairness in its past”.

“It is an unfairness that erodes the hearts of countless Brazilian citizens,” he stated.

Varied Public Response

It is possibly correct considering the significant backing Bolsonaro maintains on the conservative side. Yet his expected incarceration has also gladdened the feelings of many individuals who feel he ought to be imprisoned for plotting to stop the incoming president from assuming office – and even conspiring to have him killed.

The lawmaker, a politician for the sitting leader's Workers’ party, said: “Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be sent in a dungeon. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in isolation. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We desire him to receive respectful handling – but dignified treatment while incarcerated. He must not carry on being his self-appointed guard for his lifetime.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro allies, who have long celebrating the tough treatment of convicts, had unexpectedly become aware to their privileges. “Recently has the extreme right – which has consistently argued that human rights are not for offenders – opted to tour a jail to find out what conditions are truly like,” he stated.

“He is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he earned “humiliating, insulting handling”.

Likely Jail Environment

Despite rumors that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which currently houses about thousands of prisoners, his more likely location seems to be a adjacent jail for law enforcement and other “unique” detainees called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

The accommodations are far more adequate than those in the larger jail, although still a far cry from the luxury Bolsonaro experienced while living in the impressive presidential palace, around 12 miles away.

According to reports, the room Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha has about 260 square feet – about the area of two parking spaces – and contains a 12 sq metre WC with a shower and a 12 square meter terrace. “He could be authorized to have a set and also a cooler in his cell as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” information indicated.

Ideological Responses

He criticized the speculated proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of payback” on the part of the judicial authority who presided over Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will determine his future in the {