Prison Surprise: The FormerPresident Bolsonaro Confronts Life in Prison

He contested justice and justice won.

Two months following getting a 27-year sentence for trying to “destroy” Brazil’s political system, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last looks headed to prison.

Anticipated Incarceration

The convicted plotter – who had been living under residential detention in his residence while a number of legal procedures and appeals unfold – is broadly anticipated to be incarcerated in the coming days, amidst growing speculation that he will be sent to a well-known top-security penitentiary.

Past Comments on Prisoners

Over Bolsonaro’s four-decade political career, the conservative former soldier displayed minimal compassion for the country's prison population.

“For what reason must we give those dirtbags a easy time?” he once pondered. “They deserve to be screwed, period. That’s what I reckon.”

At another time, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Should you not wish to wind up there, the only thing required is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”

Jail Location Discussion

Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, several of whom this week toured the prison in an apparent effort to prevent the judiciary from transferring him there.

The senator, a senator from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, stated he expected the septuagenarian leader to be jailed in the coming fortnight and was concerned his assigned prison could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s severe digestive issues – the consequence of a near-fatal stabbing during the last presidential campaign – signified it would be risky to keep the ex-leader there. “His condition is extremely serious. He won’t be able to manage if they move him to Papuda … It will be awful,” said the senator, who also worried about packed cells and the quality of jail cuisine.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered witnessing cells accommodating 40 detainees: “That is almost one meter squared per inmate.

“We conversed to the inmates and they grumble, unsurprisingly, of the horrible cuisine,” remarked the senator.

Supporters React

The senator isn't the only voice expressing views before the one-time head of state's expected imprisonment.

Penning in a major newspaper, another ally, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “harsh” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” time in office and claimed Brazil was about to witness “the largest political injustice in its past”.

“It is an wrong that gnaws the spirits of millions people in Brazil,” Wajngarten wrote.

Mixed General Opinion

It is possibly correct given the substantial backing Bolsonaro holds on the conservative side. Yet his predicted incarceration has also pleased the spirits of numerous individuals who feel he should be incarcerated for conspiring to stop the incoming president from assuming office – and even conspiring to have him assassinated.

Reimont Otoni, a congressman for the incumbent administration's political party, stated: “Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be put in a hole. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to obtain dignified treatment – but respectful care in prison. He must not continue being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”

He observed how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long celebrating the harsh treatment of convicts, had suddenly become aware to their rights. “Just now has the extreme right – which has always argued that basic rights are not for lawbreakers – chosen to tour a jail to find out what situations are really like,” he stated.

“The former president is a lawbreaker,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he deserved “shameful, insulting treatment”.

Potential Incarceration Environment

Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently holds about 14,000 prisoners, his probable destination appears to be a nearby jail for officers and other “particular” prisoners known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

The accommodations are far more comfortable than those in the main prison, although nonetheless a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro experienced while living in the spectacular leader's home, approximately a short distance away.

Based on information, the accommodation Bolsonaro could likely reside in in Papudinha measures about 24 sq metres – roughly the dimensions of vehicle spaces – and includes a 130 square foot bathroom with a shower and a 12 square meter balcony. “The ex-president might be allowed to have a set and additionally a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were donated by his loved ones,” sources stated.

Ideological Reactions

Senator Lucas criticized the rumoured plan to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who oversaw Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will determine his future in the {