Jailhouse Surprise: The Ex-President Bolsonaro Confronts Time Behind Bars

He fought the legal system and the law won.

A couple of months subsequent to being handed a 27-year sentence for trying to “destroy” the nation's democratic institutions, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro finally seems destined for incarceration.

Expected Jailing

The convicted coup-monger – who's been under home confinement in his estate while a number of court processes and challenges unfold – is broadly anticipated to be incarcerated in the near future, amid increasing rumors that he will be sent to a well-known maximum security facility.

Past Statements on Prisoners

Over Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the far-right ex- paratrooper displayed scant compassion for the country's inmates.

“For what reason must we give those scoundrels a easy time?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be messed, end of story. That's my opinion.”

At another time, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to end up there, you simply need is not sexual assault, kidnap or rob.”

Jail Destination Speculation

However the idea of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, four of whom this week visited the complex in an obvious attempt to discourage the high court from banishing him there.

Izalci Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s political party who was among that group, said he expected the 70-year-old politician to be jailed in the coming fortnight and feared his location could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal ailments – the outcome of a life-threatening assault during the 2018 political campaign – signified it would be dangerous to keep the former president there. “His condition is highly critical. He cannot to handle it if they take him to Papuda … It would be dreadful,” he added, who also worried about packed cells and the quality of jail cuisine.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells accommodating 40 inmates: “That’s almost one square metre per detainee.

“We conversed to the prisoners and they complain, naturally, of the horrible food,” continued the senator.

Backers Speak Out

Lucas is not the only voice speaking out prior to the former president’s expected incarceration.

Authoring in a prominent newspaper, another ally, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “severe” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” time in office and claimed Brazil was about to experience “the greatest political injustice in its record”.

“This is an injustice that eats away the souls of countless of Brazilians,” the former minister said.

Mixed Popular Reaction

That may be accurate considering the significant backing Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. But his expected jailing has also gladdened the spirits of many others who think he should be imprisoned for plotting to stop the elected leader from assuming office – and even plotting to have him murdered.

The lawmaker, a congressman for the incumbent administration's Workers’ party, said: “No one desires Bolsonaro to be placed in a dungeon. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in solitary confinement. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to receive dignified handling – but respectful care behind bars. He can’t persist being his self-appointed guard for his whole life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro backers, who have long applauding the harsh conditions of convicts, had abruptly woken up to their rights. “Just now has the conservative fringe – which has consistently argued that human rights were not for lawbreakers – decided to tour a jail to find out what circumstances are truly like,” he stated.

“The former president is a lawbreaker,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he merited “degrading, degrading conduct”.

Potential Prison Environment

Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which currently holds about fourteen thousand detainees, his more likely destination seems to be a close penitentiary for officers and other “particular” detainees known as Papudinha (Small Papuda).

The accommodations are far more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a world away from the comfort Bolsonaro experienced while living in the stunning leader's home, approximately 12 miles away.

As per sources, the room Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha measures about 24 square meters – approximately the size of two parking spaces – and includes a 12 sq metre WC with a bathing area and a 12 sq metre terrace. “He could be authorized to have a TV and additionally a cooler in his room as long as they were provided by his family,” information suggested.

Partisan Responses

He criticized the rumoured plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “a form of revenge” on the part of the supreme court judge who oversaw Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his future in the {