Prison Surprise: Brazil's FormerPresident Bolsonaro Faces Life in Prison

He contested the legal system and the legal system won.

Sixty days following receiving a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “annihilate” the nation's democratic institutions, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro at last appears destined for incarceration.

Expected Jailing

The adjudicated coup-monger – who has been subject to home confinement in his mansion while a number of legal procedures and challenges proceed – is largely predicted to be incarcerated in the near future, during mounting speculation that he will be moved to a well-known maximum security penitentiary.

Historical Statements on Prisoners

Throughout Bolsonaro’s long public life, the right-wing ex- military man exhibited little mercy for Brazil’s jailed individuals.

“For what reason must we give those dirtbags a easy time?” he once pondered. “They deserve to be fucked, full-fucking-stop. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to end up in prison, you simply need is to avoid rape, kidnap or theft.”

Jail Location Speculation

Yet the idea of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison high-security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, several of whom this week inspected the complex in an seeming bid to dissuade the supreme court from transferring him there.

Senator Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was one of the visitors, stated he expected the 70-year-old politician to be imprisoned in the coming fortnight and worried his assigned prison could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s severe digestive problems – the result of a near-fatal assault during the last presidential campaign – meant it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His [health] situation is highly critical. He won’t be able to cope if they send him to Papuda … It would be awful,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about cramped cells and the condition of jail cuisine.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells containing four dozen detainees: “It's practically one square meter per detainee.

“We spoke to the prisoners and they grumble, of course, of the awful cuisine,” continued the senator.

Allies Voice Concerns

Lucas is not the only voice expressing views ahead of the former president’s expected detention.

Writing in a prominent daily, one more backer, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” public service and asserted Brazil was about to witness “the largest political injustice in its history”.

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

Divided Public Opinion

That may be correct given the substantial backing Bolsonaro maintains on the conservative side. But his predicted jailing has also gladdened the feelings of millions other people who feel he should be imprisoned for planning to prevent the incoming president from assuming office – and additionally scheming to have him assassinated.

The lawmaker, a politician for the current leader's political party, stated: “Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be sent in a dungeon. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be placed in segregation. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We want him to obtain respectful handling – but dignified handling behind bars. He can’t continue being his own prison warden for his entire life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro backers, who have long applauding the harsh treatment of inmates, had abruptly become aware to their rights. “Recently has the far-right – which has consistently claimed that human rights were not for lawbreakers – decided to visit a prison to discover what conditions are really like,” he stated.

“He is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he merited “humiliating, insulting conduct”.

Likely Prison Environment

In spite of speculation that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now houses about thousands of prisoners, his more likely assigned facility seems to be a nearby penitentiary for officers and other “unique” inmates called Papudinha (Small Papuda).

Its cells are much more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although still a far cry from the opulence Bolsonaro enjoyed while residing in the impressive presidential palace, about 20 kilometers away.

Based on sources, the accommodation Bolsonaro could expect to inhabit in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – approximately the size of two parking spaces – and features a 12 sq metre WC with a water facility and a 12 sq metre terrace. “The ex-president might be authorized to have a TV and also a small fridge in his room as long as they were donated by his relatives,” the report stated.

Ideological Comments

He criticized the speculated idea to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will decide his outcome in the {