Prison Surprise: The Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Faces Time in Prison

He battled the legal system and the law prevailed.

Sixty days subsequent to being handed a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “destroy” Brazil’s political system, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro finally appears headed to prison.

Expected Imprisonment

The convicted coup-monger – who has been subject to house arrest in his residence while a set of court processes and challenges play out – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the coming days, amidst mounting rumors that he will be sent to a well-known maximum security prison.

Historical Statements on Prisoners

Throughout Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the far-right former military man exhibited scant compassion for the country's jailed individuals.

“What’s the need to provide these scoundrels a comfortable existence?” he previously wondered. “They ought to simply be screwed, period. That’s what I reckon.”

At another time, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “If you don’t want to finish there, all you have to do is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”

Incarceration Location Debate

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked allies, four of whom this week toured the prison in an obvious attempt to discourage the high court from sending him there.

The senator, a senator from Bolsonaro’s political party who was among that group, stated he predicted the septuagenarian figure to be jailed in the coming fortnight and was concerned his location could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s acute gut problems – the result of a life-threatening knife attack during the last political campaign – meant it would be dangerous to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is highly critical. He will not be able to cope if they move him to Papuda … It could be dreadful,” he added, who also worried about packed cells and the condition of jail cuisine.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells accommodating 40 detainees: “That’s almost one square meter per inmate.

“We conversed to the inmates and they protest, unsurprisingly, of the horrible meals,” continued the senator.

Supporters Voice Concerns

Lucas is not the sole person expressing views before the ex-leader's anticipated imprisonment.

Penning in a leading publication, another ally, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” public service and asserted Brazil was about to see “the largest political injustice in its history”.

“It is an wrong that gnaws the souls of millions of Brazilians,” he stated.

Mixed General Response

This could be accurate considering the substantial backing Bolsonaro holds on the right-wing. Yet his expected jailing has also pleased the spirits of millions individuals who believe he deserves to be incarcerated for planning to stop his successor from taking power – and also scheming to have him assassinated.

Reimont Otoni, a politician for the incumbent leader's Workers’ party, stated: “Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be put in a dungeon. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in segregation. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to lie on concrete. We desire him to obtain proper handling – but proper handling in prison. He must not persist being his own prison warden for his lifetime.”

He observed how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years praising the tough conditions of inmates, had unexpectedly become aware to their rights. “Recently has the conservative fringe – which has consistently argued that basic rights were not for offenders – decided to visit a penitentiary to learn what circumstances are really like,” he remarked.

“He is a lawbreaker,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he merited “humiliating, insulting treatment”.

Potential Jail Environment

In spite of talk that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which presently houses about 14,000 prisoners, his expected location looks to be a nearby jail for law enforcement and other “unique” inmates called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

The accommodations are considerably more adequate than those in the main prison, although still a world away from the comfort Bolsonaro experienced while residing in the spectacular official residence, around a short distance away.

According to information, the cell Bolsonaro could anticipate occupy in Papudinha measures about 24 square meters – approximately the size of vehicle spaces – and features a 12 sq metre WC with a bathing area and a 130 square foot terrace. “The ex-president might be permitted to have a set and even a small fridge in his cell as long as they were donated by his family,” information stated.

Partisan Comments

The lawmaker denounced the speculated proposal to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “an act of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who led Bolsonaro’s legal case and will decide his future in the {