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He fought the legal system and the law prevailed.

Two months subsequent to getting a 27-year sentence for trying to “destroy” the nation's political system, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last seems headed to prison.

Expected Imprisonment

The convicted coup-monger – who's been under residential detention in his estate while a set of court processes and appeals play out – is broadly anticipated to be imprisoned in the coming days, amid increasing speculation that he will be moved to a well-known maximum security penitentiary.

Past Remarks on Convicts

During Bolsonaro’s four-decade time in politics, the conservative former paratrooper exhibited little sympathy for Brazil’s inmates.

“What’s the need to give those lowlifes a good life?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be fucked, period. That's my opinion.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to finish there, you simply need is not sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”

Prison Destination Debate

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, four of whom this week visited the prison in an apparent effort to discourage the supreme court from sending him there.

Izalci Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was one of the visitors, said he expected the septuagenarian politician to be incarcerated in the next 10 days and feared his location could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s acute gut ailments – the result of a near-fatal assault during the last political campaign – signified it would be risky to keep the ex-leader there. “His [health] situation is very grave. He won’t be able to handle it if they take him to Papuda … It will be awful,” he added, who also expressed concern about cramped cells and the condition of jail cuisine.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells containing forty inmates: “That’s virtually one square metre per inmate.

“We spoke to the convicts and they grumble, naturally, of the horrible cuisine,” continued the senator.

Allies Speak Out

He is not the sole person voicing opinions ahead of the ex-leader's expected incarceration.

Writing in a prominent daily, another ally, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “severe” end to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and asserted Brazil was about to see “the largest wrong in its past”.

“This is an wrong that gnaws the hearts of millions Brazilian citizens,” the former minister said.

Mixed Popular Response

This could be true due to the considerable support Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. But his predicted incarceration has also gladdened the hearts of many other people who believe he deserves to be imprisoned for plotting to stop the elected leader from becoming president – and also conspiring to have him assassinated.

The lawmaker, a politician for the incumbent administration's allied group, stated: “No one wants Bolsonaro to be put in a dark cell. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in solitary confinement. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We desire him to receive proper handling – but proper handling while incarcerated. He can’t carry on being his personal jailer for his entire life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro allies, who have long praising the harsh handling of prisoners, had unexpectedly woken up to their entitlements. “Only now has the far-right – which has always claimed that human rights were not for offenders – chosen to inspect a penitentiary to find out what conditions are actually like,” he stated.

“He is a lawbreaker,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he merited “degrading, insulting conduct”.

Possible Jail Facilities

In spite of talk that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which presently contains about 14,000 detainees, his probable destination seems to be a close jail for officers and other “unique” prisoners called Papudinha (Small Papuda).

The accommodations are far more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro enjoyed while occupying the spectacular leader's home, about a short distance away.

As per information, the cell Bolsonaro could anticipate reside in in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – approximately the size of vehicle spaces – and includes a 130 square foot restroom with a water facility and a 12 sq metre balcony. “Bolsonaro would be allowed to have a TV and also a small fridge in his room as long as they were provided by his relatives,” sources stated.

Ideological Responses

Senator Lucas condemned the talked-about idea to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who presided over Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will determine his future in the {