Prison Shock: Brazil's Ex-President Bolsonaro Faces Time Behind Bars

He fought justice and the legal system triumphed.

A couple of months following getting a twenty-seven-year sentence for seeking to “destroy” Brazil’s political system, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro finally seems headed to prison.

Anticipated Incarceration

The convicted coup-monger – who has been subject to house arrest in his estate while a series of legal procedures and appeals proceed – is widely expected to be jailed in the near future, amid mounting speculation that he will be moved to a well-known maximum security penitentiary.

Past Statements on Convicts

Over Bolsonaro’s 40-year political career, the conservative former paratrooper displayed minimal sympathy for the country's prison population.

“Why should we offer these scoundrels a comfortable existence?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be screwed, full-fucking-stop. That’s what I reckon.”

At another time, Bolsonaro stated: “Should you not wish to end up in prison, you simply need is to avoid sexual assault, abduction or theft.”

Prison Location Speculation

But the idea of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has horrified supporters, several of whom this week toured the facility in an obvious bid to dissuade the high court from banishing him there.

Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, stated he expected the septuagenarian leader to be imprisoned in the coming fortnight and feared his location could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious gut issues – the consequence of a near-fatal stabbing during the 2018 presidential campaign – meant it would be hazardous to keep the former president there. “His health is extremely serious. He cannot to handle it if they take him to Papuda … It could be dreadful,” he added, who also worried about overcrowded cells and the standard of jail cuisine.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells accommodating 40 detainees: “That’s practically one square metre per inmate.

“We spoke to the prisoners and they grumble, naturally, of the awful meals,” added the senator.

Supporters React

He is not the lone figure voicing opinions ahead of the one-time head of state's expected incarceration.

Authoring in a major daily, a different supporter, the ex- government official Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” public service and asserted Brazil was about to witness “the biggest unfairness in its record”.

“It is an unfairness that gnaws the spirits of many Brazilian citizens,” Wajngarten wrote.

Divided Public Reaction

That may be true due to the substantial following Bolsonaro retains on the Brazilian right. However his predicted incarceration has also gladdened the hearts of many other people who believe he should be imprisoned for plotting to stop his successor from taking power – and also scheming to have him murdered.

Congressman Otoni, a representative for the incumbent leader's allied group, commented: “Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be put in a dungeon. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be placed in segregation. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We desire him to receive proper treatment – but respectful care while incarcerated. He cannot continue being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro allies, who have spent years celebrating the severe treatment of inmates, had unexpectedly become aware to their rights. “Recently has the far-right – which has repeatedly argued that human rights should not be for offenders – opted to visit a prison to learn what situations are truly like,” he stated.

“Bolsonaro is a criminal,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he earned “humiliating, insulting conduct”.

Possible Incarceration Facilities

Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which now houses about thousands of prisoners, his expected destination seems to be a nearby penitentiary for officers and other “unique” detainees referred to as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

The accommodations are considerably more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nevertheless a world away from the comfort Bolsonaro experienced while living in the spectacular leader's home, around a short distance away.

As per reports, the cell Bolsonaro could anticipate occupy in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – approximately the dimensions of a couple of car spots – and features a 12 sq metre restroom with a bathing area and a 130 square foot balcony. “The ex-president might be authorized to have a set and additionally a cooler in his room as long as they were donated by his family,” information stated.

Ideological Reactions

He denounced the rumoured proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of revenge” on the part of the supreme court judge who presided over Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will determine his outcome in the {