🔗 Share this article

He contested the law and the legal system prevailed.

Sixty days subsequent to receiving a 27-year sentence for attempting to “eradicate” the nation's democratic institutions, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now appears jail-bound.

Imminent Incarceration

The adjudicated instigator – who had been subject to residential detention in his residence while a series of judicial steps and challenges play out – is broadly anticipated to be jailed in the near future, amid growing rumors that he will be transferred to a infamous maximum security facility.

Historical Statements on Inmates

During Bolsonaro’s 40-year political career, the conservative ex- military man showed scant mercy for Brazil’s prison population.

“What’s the need to offer those lowlifes a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They ought to simply be messed, period. That's my view.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “Should you not wish to wind up there, all you have to do is not sexual assault, abduction or rob.”

Jail Location Discussion

However the prospect of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, a group of four this week visited the complex in an seeming effort to dissuade the supreme court from transferring him there.

Senator Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s political party who was one of the visitors, stated he predicted the septuagenarian politician to be incarcerated in the coming fortnight and worried his location could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s acute gut issues – the outcome of a almost deadly knife attack during the 2018 presidential campaign – meant it would be hazardous to keep the former president there. “His [health] situation is highly critical. He won’t be able to handle it if they take him to Papuda … It would be terrible,” said the senator, who also worried about overcrowded cells and the standard of jail cuisine.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas noted seeing cells accommodating four dozen detainees: “It's almost one square meter per prisoner.

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

Allies Speak Out

The senator isn't the only voice voicing opinions ahead of the one-time head of state's anticipated imprisonment.

Writing in a prominent daily, another ally, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to see “the greatest unfairness in its past”.

“It is an injustice that gnaws the souls of millions people in Brazil,” the former minister said.

Mixed General Response

That may be correct given the substantial backing Bolsonaro holds on the conservative side. However his predicted incarceration has also gladdened the feelings of many other people who feel he deserves to be incarcerated for conspiring to stop the incoming president from becoming president – and even conspiring to have him assassinated.

Reimont Otoni, a congressman for the sitting administration's political party, said: “Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be placed in a hole. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. Nobody wants Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We desire him to get respectful treatment – but proper treatment in prison. He can’t continue being his self-appointed guard for his whole life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro allies, who have long celebrating the harsh conditions of prisoners, had unexpectedly become aware to their rights. “Just now has the conservative fringe – which has repeatedly claimed that civil liberties were not for criminals – opted to inspect a penitentiary to learn what situations are actually like,” he said.

“Bolsonaro is a lawbreaker,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, degrading conduct”.

Potential Incarceration Facilities

Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently contains about thousands of detainees, his more likely assigned facility looks to be a adjacent prison for officers and other “unique” detainees called Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

The accommodations are far more adequate than those in the larger jail, although still a far cry from the comfort Bolsonaro experienced while living in the stunning official residence, around a short distance away.

According to reports, the accommodation Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – approximately the area of two parking spaces – and features a 12 sq metre bathroom with a shower and a 12 square meter balcony. “The ex-president might be authorized to have a TV and also a cooler in his cell as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” the report suggested.

Political Comments

The lawmaker condemned the talked-about idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a form of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s legal case and will determine his fate in the {