Prison Surprise: Brazil's FormerPresident Bolsonaro Confronts Time in Prison

He contested the legal system and the legal system prevailed.

Two months after receiving a twenty-seven-year sentence for seeking to “destroy” Brazil’s democratic institutions, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro at last looks headed to prison.

Imminent Jailing

The adjudicated instigator – who had been under residential detention in his residence while a number of legal procedures and petitions proceed – is widely expected to be jailed in the next few days, amidst increasing talk that he will be transferred to a well-known top-security facility.

Historical Comments on Convicts

Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade time in politics, the right-wing former soldier exhibited minimal mercy for Brazil’s prison population.

“For what reason must we provide these scoundrels a good life?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be messed, full-fucking-stop. That’s what I reckon.”

At another time, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Unless you desire to end up behind bars, the only thing required is to avoid rape, kidnap or theft.”

Prison Destination Debate

But the idea of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, several of whom this week toured the facility in an apparent bid to dissuade the high court from transferring him there.

Senator Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was part of that quartet, claimed he expected the septuagenarian figure to be jailed in the next 10 days and was concerned his assigned prison could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s serious gut ailments – the result of a near-fatal stabbing during the 2018 presidential presidential campaign – meant it would be dangerous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His [health] situation is very grave. He cannot to handle it if they send him to Papuda … It will be dreadful,” he commented, who also worried about cramped cells and the standard of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered witnessing cells containing 40 inmates: “It's practically one square metre per prisoner.

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

Supporters React

Lucas is not the lone figure expressing views before the one-time head of state's predicted detention.

Writing in a leading newspaper, one more backer, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and claimed Brazil was about to witness “the biggest political injustice in its past”.

“This is an wrong that gnaws the spirits of countless of Brazilians,” Wajngarten wrote.

Divided General Response

It is possibly true given the substantial backing Bolsonaro retains on the conservative side. Yet his predicted jailing has also pleased the feelings of millions individuals who believe he deserves to be incarcerated for plotting to stop his successor from assuming office – and also scheming to have him assassinated.

The lawmaker, a politician for the current leader's political party, said: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a dungeon. Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be sent in segregation. No one wishes Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to receive dignified care – but respectful handling behind bars. He cannot carry on being his personal jailer for his entire life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years praising the harsh treatment of convicts, had suddenly become aware to their rights. “Just now has the extreme right – which has always claimed that basic rights were not for criminals – opted to visit a prison to learn what conditions are truly like,” he remarked.

“He is a offender,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he deserved “shameful, insulting treatment”.

Possible Prison Conditions

In spite of rumors that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which now contains about 14,000 prisoners, his more likely location looks to be a nearby prison for officers and other “special” inmates called Papudinha (Small Papuda).

Its cells are considerably more pleasant than those in the larger jail, although still a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro had while occupying the impressive presidential palace, around a short distance away.

According to information, the room Bolsonaro could expect to reside in in Papudinha has about 260 square feet – roughly the dimensions of vehicle spaces – and contains a 130 square foot restroom with a water facility and a 130 square foot veranda. “He could be authorized to have a television and even a small fridge in his room as long as they were provided by his family,” information indicated.

Ideological Reactions

Senator Lucas criticized the speculated proposal to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a form of payback” on the part of the judicial authority who oversaw Bolsonaro’s legal case and will decide his future in the {