🔗 Share this article

He contested the legal system and the legal system triumphed.

A couple of months following getting a quarter-century plus sentence for attempting to “destroy” the nation's democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now seems jail-bound.

Imminent Incarceration

The convicted plotter – who's been living under house arrest in his mansion while a series of judicial steps and appeals unfold – is largely predicted to be imprisoned in the coming days, amidst mounting talk that he will be moved to a infamous maximum security facility.

Past Comments on Inmates

Throughout Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the far-right ex- soldier displayed scant sympathy for the country's inmates.

“What’s the need to give these scoundrels a good life?” he previously wondered. “They should just get messed, period. That's my view.”

At another time, Bolsonaro stated: “Unless you desire to finish in prison, you simply need is to avoid rape, abduction or rob.”

Jail Destination Speculation

But the idea of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has horrified supporters, several of whom this week toured the prison in an apparent bid to discourage the judiciary from transferring him there.

Senator Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was one of the visitors, said he predicted the 70-year-old politician to be jailed in the following week and a half and feared his destination could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s serious gut issues – the consequence of a life-threatening stabbing during the last election race – implied it would be risky 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 terrible,” he added, who also worried about packed cells and the quality of jail cuisine.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells accommodating 40 detainees: “It's almost one square meter per inmate.

“We talked to the convicts and they complain, naturally, of the terrible meals,” added the senator.

Allies Voice Concerns

Lucas is not the only voice speaking out prior to the former president’s predicted detention.

Writing in a major publication, a different supporter, the ex- government official Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “harsh” end to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” political career and claimed Brazil was about to see “the greatest wrong in its past”.

“It represents an unfairness that eats away the spirits of countless people in Brazil,” the former minister said.

Divided Popular Reaction

It is possibly correct given the significant following Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. Yet his expected imprisonment has also gladdened the spirits of numerous other people who feel he deserves to be incarcerated for plotting to stop the incoming president from assuming office – and even plotting to have him murdered.

The lawmaker, a representative for the sitting president's Workers’ party, commented: “Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. No one wants Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We wish him to get respectful treatment – but respectful care in prison. He cannot carry on being his personal jailer for his whole life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro supporters, who have spent years praising the severe treatment of prisoners, had unexpectedly realized to their entitlements. “Only now has the extreme right – which has repeatedly asserted that civil liberties are not for offenders – decided to tour a penitentiary to learn what circumstances are truly like,” he stated.

“The former president is a criminal,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “degrading, insulting treatment”.

Likely Jail Environment

Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which currently houses about 14,000 inmates, his probable assigned facility appears to be a close prison for officers and other “special” detainees known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

His potential cell are considerably more adequate than those in the primary facility, although still a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro enjoyed while occupying the spectacular leader's home, about a short distance away.

Based on information, the cell Bolsonaro could likely inhabit in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – roughly the size of vehicle spaces – and features a 12 square meter restroom with a bathing area and a 12 sq metre terrace. “The ex-president might be allowed to have a television and also a minibar in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” sources stated.

Ideological Comments

The lawmaker condemned the talked-about proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will decide his fate in the {