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He battled the legal system and the law triumphed.

Two months following being handed a 27-year sentence for trying to “eradicate” Brazil’s democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now appears headed to prison.

Expected Incarceration

The adjudicated coup-monger – who's been subject to home confinement in his estate while a number of judicial steps and challenges play out – is broadly anticipated to be jailed in the near future, amid growing talk that he will be transferred to a well-known high-security penitentiary.

Past Statements on Convicts

Throughout Bolsonaro’s 40-year time in politics, the far-right ex- paratrooper exhibited minimal sympathy for Brazil’s jailed individuals.

“Why should we offer those scoundrels a easy time?” he once mused. “They deserve to be fucked, full-fucking-stop. That's my opinion.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro stated: “Unless you desire to finish in prison, the only thing required is to avoid sexual assault, abduction or theft.”

Incarceration Destination Debate

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has appalled supporters, several of whom this week visited the complex in an apparent effort to prevent the judiciary from transferring him there.

Izalci Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was one of the visitors, stated he expected the elderly leader to be incarcerated in the next 10 days and worried his assigned prison could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s serious gut ailments – the consequence of a near-fatal stabbing during the 2018 presidential presidential campaign – signified it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He won’t be able to manage if they take him to Papuda … It could be dreadful,” said the senator, who also worried about cramped cells and the condition of inmate food.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells accommodating 40 inmates: “That is almost one meter squared per prisoner.

“We spoke to the prisoners and they grumble, naturally, of the awful meals,” added the senator.

Backers React

He is not the only voice voicing opinions prior to the former president’s predicted incarceration.

Authoring in a leading publication, a different supporter, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “severe” end to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” political career and claimed Brazil was about to see “the largest unfairness in its past”.

“This is an wrong that erodes the spirits of countless of Brazilians,” Wajngarten wrote.

Mixed General Response

This could be true considering the substantial backing Bolsonaro holds on the Brazilian right. But his predicted incarceration has also warmed the feelings of numerous other people who feel he should be jailed for conspiring to stop the incoming president from taking power – and also plotting to have him murdered.

Congressman Otoni, a representative for the sitting administration's political party, said: “Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be placed in a dungeon. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in segregation. Nobody wants Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to get dignified handling – but dignified treatment while incarcerated. He must not persist being his personal jailer for his entire life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time praising the severe treatment of prisoners, had suddenly woken up to their entitlements. “Just now has the conservative fringe – which has always asserted that basic rights are not for criminals – opted to visit a prison to discover what conditions are really like,” he said.

“Bolsonaro is a offender,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, demeaning treatment”.

Likely Incarceration Conditions

Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which currently contains about fourteen thousand detainees, his expected location looks to be a nearby prison for officers and other “particular” inmates called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are much more pleasant than those in the main prison, although nonetheless a world away from the comfort Bolsonaro experienced while living in the spectacular leader's home, about 20 kilometers away.

According to sources, the cell Bolsonaro could likely inhabit in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – about the size of a couple of car spots – and contains a 12 sq metre restroom with a shower and a 12 square meter veranda. “Bolsonaro would be authorized to have a set and also a minibar in his room as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” information suggested.

Political Comments

The lawmaker denounced the talked-about proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “an act of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who presided over Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will rule on his future in the {