Jailhouse Surprise: Brazil's FormerPresident Jair Bolsonaro Confronts Time in Prison

He contested justice and the legal system prevailed.

Two months after receiving a twenty-seven-year sentence for seeking to “annihilate” the nation's democratic institutions, former president Jair Bolsonaro now seems destined for incarceration.

Imminent Jailing

The convicted instigator – who has been under house arrest in his mansion while a set of court processes and challenges unfold – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the coming days, amid increasing talk that he will be moved to a notorious high-security prison.

Past Remarks on Prisoners

Over Bolsonaro’s four-decade political career, the right-wing former soldier displayed little compassion for Brazil’s jailed individuals.

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

At another time, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “If you don’t want to finish behind bars, all you have to do is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”

Incarceration Location Discussion

Yet the idea of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda high-security prison in Brasília has horrified allies, four of whom this week inspected the prison in an seeming bid to prevent the high court from transferring him there.

Izalci Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was one of the visitors, claimed he anticipated the elderly politician to be imprisoned in the coming fortnight and feared his destination could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s acute digestive ailments – the outcome of a near-fatal stabbing during the 2018 political campaign – meant it would be risky to keep the ex-leader there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He will not be able to cope if they send him to Papuda … It could be awful,” said the senator, who also expressed concern about overcrowded cells and the condition of prison meals.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas recalled witnessing cells holding four dozen prisoners: “That is practically one square metre per prisoner.

“We talked to the convicts and they protest, naturally, of the awful cuisine,” continued the senator.

Backers Voice Concerns

Lucas is not the sole person speaking out ahead of the one-time head of state's expected imprisonment.

Authoring in a prominent newspaper, one more backer, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to witness “the largest wrong in its history”.

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

Mixed Public Reaction

That may be correct considering the significant support Bolsonaro holds on the Brazilian right. Yet his expected jailing has also warmed the hearts of millions others who think he should be imprisoned for planning to block his successor from taking power – and even scheming to have him killed.

Congressman Otoni, a representative for the sitting president's political party, commented: “No one wants Bolsonaro to be placed in a dark cell. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We desire him to get respectful handling – but dignified care while incarcerated. He must not persist being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”

He observed how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time celebrating the harsh handling of prisoners, had suddenly woken up to their rights. “Recently has the conservative fringe – which has consistently asserted that human rights were not for offenders – chosen to inspect a prison to learn what conditions are truly like,” he said.

“He is a offender,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he merited “humiliating, demeaning handling”.

Likely Incarceration Environment

Regardless of rumors that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now contains about thousands of prisoners, his more likely assigned facility looks to be a adjacent penitentiary for police officers and other “particular” inmates called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

The accommodations are far more adequate than those in the primary facility, although nonetheless a world away from the luxury Bolsonaro enjoyed while living in the stunning leader's home, approximately a short distance away.

Based on sources, the accommodation Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – about the size of two parking spaces – and features a 12 square meter bathroom with a bathing area and a 130 square foot terrace. “He could be permitted to have a set and also a small fridge in his room as long as they were supplied by his family,” sources indicated.

Ideological Comments

The lawmaker condemned the rumoured idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a form of revenge” on the part of the judicial authority who presided over Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will rule on his outcome in the {