Jailhouse Shock: The FormerPresident Jair Bolsonaro Faces Life in Prison

He fought the law and the law prevailed.

Two months following getting a quarter-century plus sentence for seeking to “annihilate” the nation's democratic institutions, former president Jair Bolsonaro now looks jail-bound.

Anticipated Imprisonment

The adjudicated plotter – who has been under residential detention in his estate while a number of legal procedures and petitions proceed – is widely expected to be jailed in the next few days, amidst mounting rumors that he will be transferred to a well-known high-security penitentiary.

Historical Remarks on Inmates

During Bolsonaro’s 40-year political career, the conservative former military man showed little mercy for Brazil’s jailed individuals.

“For what reason must we offer those scoundrels a good life?” he once pondered. “They deserve to be messed, period. That's my view.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to wind up in prison, you simply need is to avoid rape, kidnap or rob.”

Incarceration Location Debate

But the prospect of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, four of whom this week visited the prison in an seeming bid to dissuade the judiciary from transferring him there.

Izalci Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was one of the visitors, claimed he anticipated the septuagenarian figure to be imprisoned in the following week and a half and worried his destination could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s acute gut problems – the outcome of a almost deadly stabbing during the last presidential campaign – signified it would be risky to keep the one-time head of state there. “His [health] situation is very grave. He will not be able to handle it if they send him to Papuda … It would be awful,” he added, who also expressed concern about overcrowded cells and the standard of prison meals.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells holding forty inmates: “That’s almost one square meter per inmate.

“We talked to the prisoners and they grumble, of course, of the horrible food,” added the senator.

Supporters React

Lucas is not the only voice expressing views prior to the former president’s anticipated imprisonment.

Writing in a major publication, a different supporter, the ex- government official Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “harsh” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to experience “the biggest wrong in its record”.

“It is an unfairness that eats away the spirits of many people in Brazil,” Wajngarten wrote.

Mixed General Response

It is possibly true given the substantial backing Bolsonaro holds on the conservative side. However his predicted incarceration has also warmed the hearts of numerous others who feel he deserves to be jailed for plotting to block the incoming president from assuming office – and even scheming to have him assassinated.

Reimont Otoni, a congressman for the incumbent administration's political party, stated: “No one desires Bolsonaro to be sent in a dungeon. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be put in isolation. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We desire him to receive proper handling – but respectful treatment while incarcerated. He cannot continue being his personal jailer for his entire life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro allies, who have long applauding the harsh conditions of inmates, had unexpectedly realized to their rights. “Just now has the far-right – which has consistently asserted that civil liberties were not for lawbreakers – chosen to visit a prison to learn what conditions are really like,” he stated.

“He is a criminal,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he merited “shameful, demeaning treatment”.

Potential Prison Conditions

In spite of talk that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which currently contains about 14,000 detainees, his expected location looks to be a nearby penitentiary for law enforcement and other “special” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are much more pleasant than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a far cry from the opulence Bolsonaro had while occupying the impressive presidential palace, about a short distance away.

According to sources, the accommodation Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha measures about 24 sq metres – approximately the size of a couple of car spots – and features a 12 sq metre bathroom with a shower and a 12 sq metre terrace. “Bolsonaro would be permitted to have a television and additionally a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were provided by his loved ones,” information stated.

Ideological Reactions

He condemned the speculated plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “an act of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will determine his future in the {