🔗 Share this article

He fought justice and the legal system won.

Two months after receiving a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “annihilate” the nation's democratic institutions, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last looks jail-bound.

Expected Jailing

The adjudicated coup-monger – who's been under residential detention in his mansion while a series of court processes and petitions proceed – is broadly anticipated to be incarcerated in the near future, during mounting talk that he will be moved to a well-known high-security penitentiary.

Past Statements on Convicts

Throughout Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the far-right former military man displayed minimal compassion for the country's inmates.

“For what reason must we provide those lowlifes a good life?” he once pondered. “They ought to simply be screwed, period. That’s what I reckon.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “If you don’t want to end up there, the only thing required is not sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”

Incarceration Destination Discussion

But the idea of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has shocked allies, a group of four this week toured the prison in an apparent bid to discourage the judiciary from banishing him there.

Izalci Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, claimed he expected the septuagenarian leader to be jailed in the next 10 days and was concerned his location could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s acute gut ailments – the result of a almost deadly knife attack during the 2018 political campaign – signified it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His [health] situation is very grave. He won’t be able to cope if they take him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about overcrowded cells and the condition of jail cuisine.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas noted witnessing cells accommodating forty prisoners: “That’s almost one meter squared per prisoner.

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

Allies Speak Out

Lucas is not the sole person speaking out prior to the ex-leader's expected detention.

Authoring in a prominent newspaper, a different supporter, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “severe” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” public service and asserted Brazil was about to witness “the largest political injustice in its record”.

“It represents an wrong that eats away the hearts of countless of Brazilians,” Wajngarten wrote.

Varied General Reaction

This could be correct given the substantial support Bolsonaro maintains on the right-wing. However his expected jailing has also gladdened the spirits of millions individuals who believe he should be jailed for plotting to prevent his successor from taking power – and additionally plotting to have him assassinated.

Reimont Otoni, a representative for the sitting administration's Workers’ party, said: “No one wants Bolsonaro to be placed in a dungeon. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We desire him to receive proper treatment – but dignified care while incarcerated. He cannot carry on being his own prison warden for his whole life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have for a long time applauding the tough handling of inmates, had abruptly become aware to their privileges. “Only now has the extreme right – which has consistently argued that civil liberties should not be for lawbreakers – decided to inspect a prison to discover what circumstances are truly like,” he said.

“The former president is a criminal,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “degrading, degrading handling”.

Possible Jail Environment

Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now contains about fourteen thousand inmates, his expected assigned facility seems to be a close penitentiary for law enforcement and other “particular” prisoners known as Papudinha (Small Papuda).

Its cells are far more pleasant than those in the larger jail, although still a distant from the comfort Bolsonaro enjoyed while residing in the spectacular official residence, approximately 20 kilometers away.

According to information, the accommodation Bolsonaro could anticipate occupy in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – roughly the dimensions of a couple of car spots – and contains a 12 sq metre bathroom with a bathing area and a 130 square foot veranda. “He could be allowed to have a set and additionally a minibar in his room as long as they were donated by his relatives,” sources indicated.

Ideological Reactions

He criticized the talked-about proposal to send the former leader to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the judicial authority who presided over Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will decide his outcome in the {