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He fought the law and the legal system won.

A couple of months following being handed a 27-year sentence for seeking to “annihilate” the nation's democratic institutions, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro finally appears destined for incarceration.

Expected Jailing

The found-guilty coup-monger – who has been living under home confinement in his estate while a set of legal procedures and petitions unfold – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the near future, amidst growing rumors that he will be sent to a well-known maximum security prison.

Historical Remarks on Inmates

Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade time in politics, the conservative ex- paratrooper displayed scant mercy for the country's prison population.

“What’s the need to give these scoundrels a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They ought to simply be screwed, period. That's my view.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “If you don’t want to wind up there, all you have to do is not sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”

Prison Location Debate

Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison high-security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, a group of four this week visited the facility in an apparent bid to dissuade the high court from banishing him there.

Izalci Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s political party who was one of the visitors, said he anticipated the elderly figure to be imprisoned in the coming fortnight and worried his destination could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious digestive problems – the result of a almost deadly assault during the last presidential campaign – implied it would be risky to keep the ex-leader there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He cannot to manage if they take him to Papuda … It could be terrible,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about cramped cells and the quality of prison meals.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells holding 40 prisoners: “It's almost one square meter per prisoner.

“We talked to the convicts and they grumble, unsurprisingly, of the awful food,” added the senator.

Supporters Speak Out

Lucas is not the lone figure voicing opinions before the former president’s predicted detention.

Writing in a major daily, one more backer, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “severe” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” time in office and claimed Brazil was about to witness “the largest political injustice in its past”.

“It represents an injustice that erodes the hearts of countless of Brazilians,” he stated.

Varied Popular Reaction

This could be true given the substantial support Bolsonaro holds on the right-wing. Yet his expected incarceration has also pleased the feelings of many other people who feel he ought to be jailed for planning to prevent his successor from becoming president – and also plotting to have him assassinated.

Congressman Otoni, a congressman for the sitting administration's Workers’ party, said: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in a dungeon. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. No one wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We wish him to obtain dignified treatment – but dignified care behind bars. He must not continue being his own prison warden for his entire life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long praising the harsh treatment of inmates, had unexpectedly woken up to their rights. “Recently has the conservative fringe – which has consistently claimed that civil liberties should not be for offenders – chosen to tour a prison to find out what conditions are truly like,” he remarked.

“Bolsonaro is a offender,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he earned “shameful, demeaning conduct”.

Likely Prison Environment

Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which presently houses about 14,000 inmates, his probable destination seems to be a adjacent penitentiary for law enforcement and other “unique” inmates referred to as Papudinha (Small Papuda).

His potential cell are considerably more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nevertheless a world away from the comfort Bolsonaro enjoyed while living in the spectacular official residence, about 20 kilometers away.

Based on reports, the room Bolsonaro could likely reside in in Papudinha measures about 24 square meters – roughly the dimensions of a couple of car spots – and features a 12 sq metre WC with a shower and a 12 square meter veranda. “He could be authorized to have a television and additionally a small fridge in his cell as long as they were provided by his loved ones,” sources stated.

Political Comments

He condemned the talked-about plan to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will determine his future in the {