Prison Shock: The FormerPresident Bolsonaro Faces Life in Prison

He contested justice and the legal system triumphed.

A couple of months after receiving a quarter-century plus sentence for seeking to “eradicate” Brazil’s democracy, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro finally appears headed to prison.

Anticipated Imprisonment

The found-guilty instigator – who's been under house arrest in his estate while a set of legal procedures and challenges unfold – is broadly anticipated to be imprisoned in the coming days, amidst growing talk that he will be moved to a infamous top-security prison.

Previous Statements on Inmates

Throughout Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the far-right ex- soldier displayed scant compassion for the country's inmates.

“Why should we give those lowlifes a good life?” he once mused. “They deserve to be fucked, full-fucking-stop. That's my view.”

At another time, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Unless you desire to end up behind bars, all you have to do is not rape, abduction or rob.”

Incarceration Destination Discussion

However the idea of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda high-security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, several of whom this week toured the facility in an obvious attempt to prevent the judiciary from sending him there.

Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was among that group, stated he predicted the elderly politician to be imprisoned in the next 10 days and was concerned his assigned prison could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s serious gut problems – the consequence of a life-threatening stabbing during the last election race – signified it would be hazardous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His [health] situation is very grave. He won’t be able to manage if they take him to Papuda … It would be terrible,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about cramped cells and the condition of prison meals.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled witnessing cells holding 40 inmates: “It's almost one square metre per detainee.

“We conversed to the inmates and they protest, naturally, of the terrible food,” continued the senator.

Allies Voice Concerns

He is not the only voice speaking out prior to the one-time head of state's anticipated incarceration.

Penning in a major publication, a different supporter, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” political career and alleged Brazil was about to experience “the biggest political injustice in its past”.

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

Divided Popular Response

This could be true given the substantial support Bolsonaro retains on the conservative side. However his expected imprisonment has also gladdened the feelings of many others who feel he should be jailed for planning to stop his successor from becoming president – and even scheming to have him assassinated.

Reimont Otoni, a politician for the incumbent president's political party, said: “Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be put in a dungeon. No one desires Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to lie on concrete. We wish him to get proper care – but proper care in prison. He cannot carry on being his own prison warden for his entire life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time celebrating the harsh treatment of prisoners, had abruptly become aware to their rights. “Just now has the extreme right – which has repeatedly claimed that civil liberties should not be for criminals – chosen to visit a penitentiary to discover what circumstances are actually like,” he remarked.

“The former president is a criminal,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he earned “degrading, insulting treatment”.

Likely Incarceration Conditions

Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which currently houses about fourteen thousand detainees, his probable assigned facility looks to be a nearby penitentiary for officers and other “special” detainees referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are far more adequate than those in the primary facility, although nonetheless a distant from the comfort Bolsonaro experienced while living in the impressive official residence, around a short distance away.

Based on information, the cell Bolsonaro could anticipate reside in in Papudinha measures about 24 sq metres – about the dimensions of two parking spaces – and contains a 12 square meter WC with a bathing area and a 12 square meter terrace. “He could be allowed to have a TV and even a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his loved ones,” sources stated.

Political Reactions

He denounced the rumoured idea to send the ex-president to Papuda as “an act of payback” on the part of the judicial authority who led Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will decide his fate in the {