Jailhouse Shock: The Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Faces Life in Prison

He contested justice and justice triumphed.

Sixty days subsequent to receiving a 27-year sentence for attempting to “destroy” the nation's democracy, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro finally seems headed to prison.

Anticipated Incarceration

The found-guilty plotter – who had been living under residential detention in his mansion while a series of legal procedures and challenges play out – is largely predicted to be incarcerated in the near future, amidst increasing talk that he will be transferred to a notorious top-security prison.

Past Comments on Inmates

During Bolsonaro’s 40-year political career, the right-wing ex- military man displayed little mercy for the country's prison population.

“What’s the need to give these scoundrels a good life?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be messed, period. That’s what I reckon.”

At another time, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “If you don’t want to end up behind bars, you simply need is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”

Prison Destination Speculation

But the possibility of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has horrified supporters, a group of four this week toured the complex in an obvious effort to prevent the supreme court from banishing him there.

Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s political party who was one of the visitors, said he predicted the 70-year-old politician to be incarcerated in the following week and a half and was concerned his assigned prison could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious intestinal issues – the consequence of a near-fatal knife attack during the 2018 presidential presidential campaign – meant it would be dangerous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His health is extremely serious. He cannot to cope if they take him to Papuda … It will be dreadful,” he added, who also expressed concern about packed cells and the quality of prison meals.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells containing four dozen prisoners: “It's practically one square metre per prisoner.

“We conversed to the convicts and they complain, naturally, of the terrible meals,” remarked the senator.

Allies React

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

Writing in a major publication, another ally, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” public service and claimed Brazil was about to witness “the greatest unfairness in its record”.

“It is an unfairness that erodes the hearts of countless people in Brazil,” he stated.

Mixed General Opinion

That may be correct due to the considerable support Bolsonaro retains on the conservative side. But his anticipated jailing has also pleased the spirits of numerous others who think he deserves to be jailed for conspiring to block the incoming president from taking power – and additionally scheming to have him killed.

The lawmaker, a politician for the sitting leader's Workers’ party, stated: “Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be sent in a dungeon. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We wish him to receive dignified treatment – but proper treatment in prison. He can’t continue being his personal jailer for his entire life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro supporters, who have spent years applauding the tough conditions of convicts, had abruptly become aware to their rights. “Only now has the extreme right – which has always asserted that human rights were not for offenders – chosen to inspect a penitentiary to learn what circumstances are truly like,” he stated.

“The former president is a lawbreaker,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he merited “shameful, insulting handling”.

Possible Incarceration Environment

Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now houses about thousands of detainees, his expected assigned facility seems to be a close jail for police officers and other “special” inmates called Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

The accommodations are much more pleasant than those in the main prison, although still a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro enjoyed while occupying the impressive presidential palace, about 20 kilometers away.

As per sources, the cell Bolsonaro could likely inhabit in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – roughly the area of vehicle spaces – and includes a 12 sq metre bathroom with a water facility and a 12 sq metre balcony. “The ex-president might be allowed to have a television and even a cooler in his room as long as they were provided by his relatives,” the report indicated.

Ideological Comments

The lawmaker criticized the speculated plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “a type of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who oversaw Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his outcome in the {