Prison Shock: Brazil's Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Time Behind Bars

He battled the law and justice won.

A couple of months subsequent to receiving a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “annihilate” Brazil’s democratic institutions, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last appears headed to prison.

Imminent Incarceration

The found-guilty coup-monger – who has been living under house arrest in his mansion while a set of judicial steps and appeals proceed – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the near future, amidst mounting rumors that he will be sent to a well-known high-security prison.

Past Statements on Inmates

Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade political career, the far-right ex- paratrooper displayed scant compassion for the country's prison population.

“For what reason must we give those lowlifes a comfortable existence?” he once pondered. “They deserve to be fucked, end of story. That's my view.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro stated: “If you don’t want to end up in prison, you simply need is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”

Incarceration Location Speculation

Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda high-security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, several of whom this week visited the complex in an apparent bid to dissuade the supreme court from transferring him there.

The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was part of that quartet, stated he predicted the 70-year-old figure to be incarcerated in the coming fortnight and feared his location could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious gut ailments – the consequence of a life-threatening assault during the 2018 election race – signified it would be hazardous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His health is highly critical. He cannot to cope if they move him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he added, who also worried about packed cells and the standard of prison meals.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells containing forty detainees: “It's virtually one square metre per detainee.

“We conversed to the prisoners and they grumble, naturally, of the awful meals,” remarked the senator.

Allies React

Lucas is not the only voice expressing views ahead of the one-time head of state's anticipated detention.

Penning in a major publication, one more backer, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and claimed Brazil was about to experience “the greatest unfairness in its record”.

“It is an unfairness that erodes the souls of many Brazilian citizens,” the former minister said.

Divided Popular Opinion

That may be accurate given the substantial following Bolsonaro retains on the Brazilian right. However his anticipated incarceration has also warmed the hearts of numerous others who think he deserves to be jailed for conspiring to prevent the incoming president from becoming president – and also scheming to have him killed.

Reimont Otoni, a politician for the current administration's political party, commented: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be put in a dungeon. No one wants Bolsonaro to be put in isolation. No one wants Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to get proper care – but dignified handling behind bars. He must not continue being his personal jailer for his entire life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long applauding the harsh conditions of convicts, had abruptly woken up to their privileges. “Just now has the conservative fringe – which has consistently argued that basic rights should not be for lawbreakers – chosen to visit a prison to learn what situations are truly like,” he stated.

“He is a offender,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he earned “humiliating, demeaning conduct”.

Likely Incarceration Conditions

Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which currently holds about fourteen thousand prisoners, his more likely location looks to be a nearby prison for law enforcement and other “particular” detainees known as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

The accommodations are much more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a world away from the luxury Bolsonaro enjoyed while occupying the spectacular official residence, approximately 12 miles away.

According to information, the cell Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha measures about 24 sq metres – approximately the area of two parking spaces – and features a 12 sq metre restroom with a water facility and a 12 sq metre balcony. “He could be authorized to have a TV and even a cooler in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” the report suggested.

Partisan Reactions

Senator Lucas criticized the talked-about proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who presided over Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will decide his future in the {