🔗 Share this article

He fought justice and the law won.

A couple of months following receiving a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “eradicate” Brazil’s democratic institutions, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last seems jail-bound.

Imminent Incarceration

The convicted plotter – who has been subject to house arrest in his residence while a series of court processes and appeals play out – is broadly anticipated to be imprisoned in the coming days, amid increasing speculation that he will be transferred to a notorious maximum security penitentiary.

Previous Remarks on Prisoners

Over Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the conservative former military man displayed little sympathy for the country's inmates.

“Why should we offer these lowlifes a good life?” he previously wondered. “They should just get fucked, end of story. That’s what I reckon.”

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

Jail Destination Debate

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, a group of four this week toured the facility in an apparent effort to dissuade the judiciary from sending him there.

The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was among that group, claimed he expected the 70-year-old leader to be incarcerated in the following week and a half and feared his destination could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s severe digestive ailments – the result of a near-fatal stabbing during the last election race – implied it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is extremely serious. He will not be able to handle it if they send him to Papuda … It would be dreadful,” he added, who also worried about overcrowded cells and the quality of inmate food.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas noted witnessing cells containing four dozen detainees: “It's practically one square meter per inmate.

“We spoke to the prisoners and they complain, of course, of the terrible meals,” continued the senator.

Backers Speak Out

He is not the sole person speaking out prior to the former president’s anticipated incarceration.

Penning in a leading publication, one more backer, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” end to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to experience “the biggest unfairness in its record”.

“This is an wrong that eats away the spirits of millions Brazilian citizens,” the former minister said.

Varied Popular Response

That may be correct due to the considerable support Bolsonaro retains on the conservative side. However his predicted incarceration has also gladdened the hearts of millions others who think he should be imprisoned for plotting to stop the elected leader from assuming office – and even scheming to have him murdered.

The lawmaker, a congressman for the incumbent president's allied group, commented: “Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be put in a dark cell. No one desires Bolsonaro to be put in segregation. No one wants Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We wish him to receive proper treatment – but proper handling in prison. He cannot carry on being his own prison warden for his entire life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years praising the severe handling of prisoners, had unexpectedly realized to their rights. “Only now has the conservative fringe – which has repeatedly asserted that human rights should not be for lawbreakers – decided to tour a prison to learn what circumstances are actually like,” he stated.

“Bolsonaro is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he earned “degrading, demeaning conduct”.

Potential Incarceration Facilities

In spite of talk that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which presently contains about 14,000 detainees, his more likely location seems to be a adjacent jail for officers and other “unique” prisoners known as Papudinha (Small Papuda).

His potential cell are far more pleasant than those in the larger jail, although still a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro enjoyed while occupying the stunning official residence, approximately a short distance away.

As per information, the accommodation Bolsonaro could expect to inhabit in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – roughly the area of a couple of car spots – and contains a 12 sq metre WC with a shower and a 130 square foot balcony. “He could be permitted to have a set and additionally a minibar in his room as long as they were donated by his family,” information stated.

Political Reactions

The lawmaker criticized the speculated proposal to send the former leader to Papuda as “an act of payback” on the part of the judicial authority who led Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will determine his future in the {