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He battled the law and the legal system won.

Sixty days subsequent to receiving a quarter-century plus sentence for attempting to “destroy” Brazil’s democratic institutions, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last looks jail-bound.

Expected Imprisonment

The adjudicated instigator – who's been subject to residential detention in his estate while a number of court processes and petitions proceed – is widely expected to be jailed in the coming days, during growing speculation that he will be moved to a well-known top-security penitentiary.

Historical Statements on Prisoners

During Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the right-wing former paratrooper showed little mercy for Brazil’s prison population.

“For what reason must we give these lowlifes a good life?” he once pondered. “They deserve to be fucked, full-fucking-stop. That's my opinion.”

At another time, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Should you not wish to wind up behind bars, you simply need is not sexual assault, kidnap or rob.”

Jail Facility Discussion

But the idea of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has appalled supporters, several of whom this week toured the facility in an apparent attempt to prevent the judiciary from banishing him there.

Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s political party who was among that group, stated he anticipated the 70-year-old figure to be imprisoned in the coming fortnight and worried his assigned prison could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious intestinal ailments – the outcome of a almost deadly stabbing during the 2018 political campaign – meant it would be dangerous to keep the former president there. “His health is highly critical. He won’t be able to manage if they take him to Papuda … It will be dreadful,” he added, who also voiced anxiety about packed cells and the quality of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered seeing cells accommodating forty prisoners: “That is practically one square meter per inmate.

“We spoke to the convicts and they complain, unsurprisingly, of the awful meals,” continued the senator.

Allies Voice Concerns

Lucas is not the only voice voicing opinions prior to the one-time head of state's expected detention.

Penning in a prominent daily, another ally, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and asserted Brazil was about to experience “the greatest wrong in its past”.

“This is an unfairness that erodes the souls of many of Brazilians,” Wajngarten wrote.

Divided Public Response

It is possibly true given the substantial support Bolsonaro maintains on the conservative side. Yet his expected jailing has also warmed the hearts of millions other people who think he deserves to be imprisoned for planning to prevent his successor from becoming president – and even conspiring to have him murdered.

The lawmaker, a congressman for the sitting leader's allied group, said: “Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be put in a hole. No one wants Bolsonaro to be sent in solitary confinement. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We desire him to obtain dignified treatment – but respectful treatment in prison. He cannot persist being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time celebrating the harsh handling of convicts, had unexpectedly realized to their entitlements. “Recently has the far-right – which has consistently asserted that civil liberties were not for criminals – opted to tour a penitentiary to discover what circumstances are actually like,” he stated.

“Bolsonaro is a offender,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “degrading, degrading handling”.

Likely Prison Conditions

Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which currently houses about 14,000 detainees, his more likely assigned facility looks to be a nearby prison for police officers and other “unique” inmates called Papudinha (Small Papuda).

His potential cell are much more pleasant than those in the main prison, although nevertheless a world away from the comfort Bolsonaro had while residing in the impressive presidential palace, around 20 kilometers away.

According to sources, the cell Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha has about 24 square meters – roughly the area of a couple of car spots – and includes a 130 square foot WC with a water facility and a 12 sq metre veranda. “The ex-president might be permitted to have a TV and even a minibar in his cell as long as they were donated by his family,” the report suggested.

Partisan Responses

The lawmaker condemned the rumoured plan to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a type of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who oversaw Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will rule on his fate in the {