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

He fought the law and the legal system prevailed.

Sixty days subsequent to being handed a twenty-seven-year sentence for seeking to “annihilate” the nation's democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro now seems destined for incarceration.

Anticipated Jailing

The found-guilty plotter – who had been living under residential detention in his mansion while a series of court processes and petitions play out – is widely expected to be jailed in the coming days, during growing talk that he will be moved to a well-known maximum security prison.

Past Remarks on Prisoners

Throughout Bolsonaro’s long political career, the conservative former military man displayed scant mercy for the country's inmates.

“What’s the need to give these dirtbags a good life?” he once mused. “They deserve to be screwed, full-fucking-stop. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to finish in prison, all you have to do is to avoid rape, kidnap or theft.”

Incarceration Location Discussion

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked supporters, four of whom this week visited the complex in an apparent effort to prevent the high court from sending him there.

Izalci Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was part of that quartet, said he predicted the 70-year-old leader to be jailed in the coming fortnight and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s severe digestive issues – the outcome of a almost deadly knife attack during the 2018 presidential political campaign – meant it would be dangerous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His condition is highly critical. He cannot to cope if they move him to Papuda … It would be dreadful,” he commented, who also worried about overcrowded cells and the quality of inmate food.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells containing 40 inmates: “That is almost one square metre per inmate.

“We talked to the inmates and they complain, naturally, of the horrible meals,” added the senator.

Supporters Speak Out

Lucas is not the sole person expressing views prior to the former president’s predicted imprisonment.

Writing in a prominent daily, a different supporter, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “severe” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” public service and alleged Brazil was about to witness “the largest political injustice in its past”.

“It is an wrong that eats away the spirits of countless people in Brazil,” he stated.

Divided Public Opinion

It is possibly accurate due to the substantial support Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. But his expected incarceration has also warmed the feelings of numerous individuals who think he ought to be incarcerated for plotting to block the incoming president from becoming president – and also scheming to have him assassinated.

Congressman Otoni, a representative for the incumbent leader's political party, commented: “Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be placed in a hole. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in segregation. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to lie on concrete. We desire him to obtain dignified treatment – but respectful handling while incarcerated. He cannot carry on being his own prison warden for his whole life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro supporters, who have spent years applauding the harsh treatment of prisoners, had unexpectedly realized to their privileges. “Just now has the extreme right – which has repeatedly argued that basic rights should not be for criminals – decided to tour a jail to discover what situations are actually like,” he remarked.

“He is a lawbreaker,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he deserved “shameful, demeaning conduct”.

Possible Incarceration Facilities

In spite of talk that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which presently holds about fourteen thousand prisoners, his more likely location looks to be a nearby penitentiary for law enforcement and other “special” inmates known as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are much more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although still a world away from the comfort Bolsonaro enjoyed while occupying the spectacular leader's home, around a short distance away.

As per sources, the cell Bolsonaro could anticipate occupy in Papudinha has about 260 square feet – approximately the area of a couple of car spots – and features a 12 sq metre bathroom with a shower and a 12 square meter balcony. “The ex-president might be allowed to have a set and even a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” sources stated.

Political Reactions

He criticized the rumoured plan to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a type of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who led Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his outcome in the {