Jailhouse Surprise: The FormerPresident Jair Bolsonaro Faces Time in Prison

He contested the law and justice triumphed.

A couple of months following being handed a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “destroy” Brazil’s democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro finally looks headed to prison.

Anticipated Jailing

The adjudicated instigator – who has been living under home confinement in his residence while a set of judicial steps and appeals unfold – is widely expected to be jailed in the next few days, amid mounting talk that he will be moved to a notorious top-security facility.

Historical Statements on Convicts

During Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the right-wing ex- soldier exhibited scant mercy for Brazil’s inmates.

“For what reason must we provide those lowlifes a good life?” he previously wondered. “They ought to simply be screwed, end of story. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Should you not wish to wind up behind bars, you simply need is not rape, abduction or theft.”

Prison Destination Speculation

However the possibility of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked allies, four of whom this week visited the complex in an seeming bid to dissuade the high court from sending him there.

Izalci Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was part of that quartet, stated he predicted the septuagenarian leader to be imprisoned in the coming fortnight and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s severe intestinal problems – the consequence of a almost deadly knife attack during the 2018 presidential political campaign – meant it would be risky to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is very grave. He cannot to cope if they move him to Papuda … It will be awful,” said the senator, who also worried about cramped cells and the quality of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas noted seeing cells holding four dozen inmates: “That is virtually one square meter per detainee.

“We talked to the prisoners and they complain, unsurprisingly, of the horrible food,” remarked the senator.

Allies Voice Concerns

Lucas is not the lone figure speaking out prior to the one-time head of state's anticipated incarceration.

Authoring in a major publication, a different supporter, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “severe” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” public service and asserted Brazil was about to experience “the greatest unfairness in its history”.

“It is an wrong that erodes the hearts of countless of Brazilians,” the former minister said.

Divided Popular Opinion

It is possibly true considering the substantial following Bolsonaro holds on the Brazilian right. However his expected jailing has also pleased the feelings of millions other people who feel he deserves to be imprisoned for planning to block the incoming president from becoming president – and additionally plotting to have him killed.

Congressman Otoni, a politician for the incumbent president's political party, stated: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in a hole. Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to obtain dignified handling – but respectful treatment while incarcerated. He must not continue being his personal jailer for his entire life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have for a long time applauding the severe conditions of prisoners, had suddenly become aware to their rights. “Just now has the conservative fringe – which has always claimed that basic rights are not for criminals – chosen to tour a prison to discover what conditions are actually like,” he said.

“The former president is a criminal,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he deserved “degrading, insulting conduct”.

Likely Prison Facilities

In spite of speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which now contains about fourteen thousand prisoners, his expected location appears to be a adjacent jail for law enforcement and other “unique” detainees referred to as Papudinha (Small Papuda).

Its cells are much more pleasant than those in the main prison, although nevertheless a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro had while occupying the stunning official residence, around 20 kilometers away.

According to sources, the room Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha measures about 24 sq metres – roughly the area of a couple of car spots – and contains a 12 square meter restroom with a water facility and a 12 square meter balcony. “Bolsonaro would be allowed to have a television and additionally a small fridge in his cell as long as they were provided by his relatives,” the report indicated.

Ideological Responses

Senator Lucas condemned the speculated idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a form of revenge” on the part of the supreme court judge who oversaw Bolsonaro’s legal case and will determine his outcome in the {