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He contested the law and the legal system won.

Sixty days after getting a twenty-seven-year sentence for attempting to “destroy” Brazil’s political system, former president Jair Bolsonaro finally appears jail-bound.

Anticipated Incarceration

The adjudicated coup-monger – who's been under home confinement in his mansion while a number of court processes and petitions play out – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the next few days, during growing talk that he will be transferred to a notorious top-security facility.

Past Statements on Prisoners

Throughout Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the right-wing ex- paratrooper showed minimal sympathy for the country's inmates.

“What’s the need to offer these lowlifes a comfortable existence?” he previously wondered. “They ought to simply be messed, period. That's my view.”

At another time, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Unless you desire to end up behind bars, all you have to do is to avoid rape, abduction or rob.”

Prison Destination Debate

But the prospect of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, four of whom this week inspected the prison in an apparent bid to dissuade the supreme court from transferring him there.

Senator Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was part of that quartet, claimed he expected the 70-year-old politician to be imprisoned in the next 10 days and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal problems – the result of a almost deadly stabbing during the 2018 political campaign – signified it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His health is highly critical. He won’t be able to handle it if they send him to Papuda … It will be dreadful,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about packed cells and the standard of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells containing four dozen prisoners: “That’s virtually one square metre per inmate.

“We spoke to the convicts and they complain, unsurprisingly, of the terrible food,” added the senator.

Supporters Speak Out

He is not the only voice expressing views ahead of the one-time head of state's anticipated detention.

Authoring in a major publication, one more backer, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and asserted Brazil was about to experience “the largest political injustice in its history”.

“This is an unfairness that gnaws the souls of millions of Brazilians,” the former minister said.

Varied General Opinion

That may be true due to the significant support Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. But his predicted imprisonment has also warmed the feelings of millions other people who think he ought to be jailed for plotting to stop his successor from assuming office – and additionally plotting to have him killed.

Congressman Otoni, a politician for the current president's Workers’ party, stated: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be put in a dark cell. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We wish him to receive proper care – but respectful handling in prison. He can’t continue being his own prison warden for his lifetime.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have spent years celebrating the severe handling of convicts, had abruptly woken up to their entitlements. “Recently has the conservative fringe – which has consistently asserted that civil liberties should not be for offenders – chosen to inspect a penitentiary to discover what circumstances are actually like,” he remarked.

“He is a lawbreaker,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he merited “degrading, demeaning conduct”.

Possible Prison Environment

Regardless of rumors that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which presently contains about fourteen thousand prisoners, his probable assigned facility seems to be a nearby penitentiary for law enforcement and other “special” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

His potential cell are much more adequate than those in the main prison, although still a world away from the luxury Bolsonaro experienced while residing in the impressive official residence, around 20 kilometers away.

Based on sources, the cell Bolsonaro could likely inhabit in Papudinha has about 24 square meters – approximately the dimensions of vehicle spaces – and features a 130 square foot WC with a water facility and a 130 square foot balcony. “Bolsonaro would be permitted to have a TV and even a small fridge in his cell as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” the report suggested.

Ideological Reactions

He criticized the speculated plan to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of retaliation” on the part of the judicial authority who led Bolsonaro’s legal case and will decide his future in the {