🔗 Share this article

He contested justice and the law triumphed.

A couple of months subsequent to being handed a twenty-seven-year sentence for seeking to “destroy” the nation's political system, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro finally seems headed to prison.

Expected Incarceration

The found-guilty coup-monger – who has been subject to home confinement in his residence while a set of legal procedures and challenges unfold – is broadly anticipated to be jailed in the next few days, amidst growing rumors that he will be moved to a notorious top-security facility.

Past Comments on Prisoners

Throughout Bolsonaro’s 40-year political career, the far-right former paratrooper displayed scant compassion for the country's prison population.

“Why should we provide those lowlifes a easy time?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be screwed, end of story. That’s what I reckon.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to finish in prison, all you have to do is not rape, kidnap or theft.”

Incarceration Facility Discussion

However the possibility of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has appalled supporters, a group of four this week toured the complex in an seeming attempt to prevent the judiciary from banishing him there.

The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was one of the visitors, said he predicted the 70-year-old figure to be imprisoned in the following week and a half and worried his destination could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s serious digestive ailments – the outcome of a life-threatening knife attack during the last election race – meant it would be hazardous to keep the former president there. “His [health] situation is highly critical. He won’t be able to cope if they take him to Papuda … It would be dreadful,” he added, who also voiced anxiety about packed cells and the condition of prison meals.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells containing four dozen prisoners: “That is almost one square metre per inmate.

“We spoke to the prisoners and they complain, naturally, of the horrible cuisine,” remarked the senator.

Backers Speak Out

The senator isn't the only voice voicing opinions before the ex-leader's anticipated detention.

Authoring in a leading publication, another ally, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “harsh” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” public service and alleged Brazil was about to see “the greatest wrong in its history”.

“This is an injustice that gnaws the hearts of countless Brazilian citizens,” he stated.

Mixed General Reaction

That may be accurate due to the considerable backing Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. But his anticipated imprisonment has also warmed the feelings of millions individuals who feel he should be incarcerated for conspiring to prevent the elected leader from taking power – and even conspiring to have him assassinated.

Congressman Otoni, a congressman for the current leader's Workers’ party, said: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in a dark cell. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be put in segregation. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We desire him to obtain respectful treatment – but proper treatment in prison. He can’t persist being his self-appointed guard for his entire life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro allies, who have for a long time praising the tough conditions of convicts, had suddenly woken up to their privileges. “Only now has the far-right – which has consistently argued that human rights are not for offenders – chosen to visit a penitentiary to find out what circumstances are really like,” he remarked.

“The former president is a lawbreaker,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he deserved “degrading, degrading conduct”.

Possible Incarceration Conditions

In spite of talk that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which presently houses about fourteen thousand inmates, his more likely assigned facility looks to be a nearby jail for law enforcement and other “particular” prisoners called Papudinha (Small Papuda).

The accommodations are considerably more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a world away from the luxury Bolsonaro experienced while living in the impressive official residence, approximately 20 kilometers away.

As per reports, the cell Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – roughly the area of vehicle spaces – and features a 130 square foot bathroom with a water facility and a 12 sq metre balcony. “Bolsonaro would be allowed to have a television and also a cooler in his quarters as long as they were provided by his relatives,” information indicated.

Political Responses

He condemned the talked-about plan to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who presided over Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his outcome in the {