🔗 Share this article

He contested justice and justice won.

Two months following receiving a quarter-century plus sentence for seeking to “eradicate” Brazil’s democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro finally appears destined for incarceration.

Imminent Incarceration

The convicted coup-monger – who's been living under residential detention in his residence while a set of legal procedures and petitions play out – is broadly anticipated to be jailed in the next few days, during increasing rumors that he will be moved to a notorious maximum security prison.

Past Remarks on Inmates

Over Bolsonaro’s four-decade time in politics, the far-right ex- paratrooper showed scant mercy for the country's jailed individuals.

“What’s the need to provide those lowlifes a comfortable existence?” he once pondered. “They deserve to be fucked, full-fucking-stop. That’s what I reckon.”

At another time, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “If you don’t want to end up in prison, all you have to do is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or rob.”

Incarceration Destination Discussion

Yet the idea of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison high-security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, several of whom this week inspected the facility in an apparent attempt to prevent the judiciary from banishing him there.

The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was among that group, stated he expected the 70-year-old politician to be jailed in the following week and a half and worried his destination could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s acute digestive problems – the result of a almost deadly knife attack during the last presidential campaign – meant it would be hazardous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His health is very grave. He won’t be able to cope if they move him to Papuda … It could be awful,” said the senator, who also expressed concern about cramped cells and the standard of prison meals.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas noted observing cells containing four dozen prisoners: “That’s virtually one square metre per prisoner.

“We spoke to the inmates and they grumble, of course, of the terrible cuisine,” added the senator.

Supporters Speak Out

The senator isn't the only voice expressing views before the former president’s predicted detention.

Authoring in a leading newspaper, a different supporter, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “harsh” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” time in office and alleged Brazil was about to experience “the largest wrong in its record”.

“It represents an unfairness that erodes the souls of millions people in Brazil,” he stated.

Mixed Public Reaction

This could be accurate considering the significant backing Bolsonaro retains on the conservative side. But his expected jailing has also pleased the spirits of many other people who feel he ought to be incarcerated for planning to prevent the elected leader from taking power – and even scheming to have him assassinated.

Reimont Otoni, a representative for the sitting administration's Workers’ party, stated: “Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be sent in a dungeon. Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. No one wishes Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We wish him to get proper handling – but dignified treatment behind bars. He cannot continue being his self-appointed guard for his whole life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro backers, who have long applauding the severe treatment of inmates, had abruptly realized to their entitlements. “Just now has the extreme right – which has consistently argued that human rights were not for offenders – chosen to tour a prison to find out what circumstances are really like,” he said.

“Bolsonaro is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, insulting treatment”.

Potential Jail Environment

Despite rumors that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which now holds about fourteen thousand inmates, his expected assigned facility appears to be a close penitentiary for officers and other “particular” inmates known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

The accommodations are far more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a distant from the luxury Bolsonaro enjoyed while residing in the stunning presidential palace, about a short distance away.

Based on sources, the accommodation Bolsonaro could anticipate reside in in Papudinha has about 260 square feet – about the area of a couple of car spots – and features a 130 square foot WC with a shower and a 12 square meter veranda. “He could be authorized to have a television and additionally a small fridge in his room as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” sources suggested.

Ideological Comments

The lawmaker criticized the talked-about plan to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “an act of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will decide his outcome in the {