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He fought the law and justice prevailed.

Two months subsequent to receiving a twenty-seven-year sentence for trying to “destroy” Brazil’s political system, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro now looks headed to prison.

Imminent Incarceration

The convicted instigator – who's been under residential detention in his mansion while a number of legal procedures and petitions proceed – is widely expected to be imprisoned in the next few days, amid mounting speculation that he will be moved to a well-known top-security prison.

Previous Remarks on Prisoners

Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade public life, the far-right former military man displayed scant compassion for Brazil’s prison population.

“Why should we offer these scoundrels a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They should just get fucked, full-fucking-stop. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to wind up behind bars, all you have to do is not rape, kidnap or theft.”

Incarceration Facility Debate

But the possibility of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, a group of four this week inspected the complex in an obvious attempt to dissuade the supreme court from banishing him there.

Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was one of the visitors, said he predicted the elderly leader to be imprisoned in the coming fortnight and was concerned his destination could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal problems – the outcome of a life-threatening stabbing during the last presidential campaign – meant it would be risky to keep the one-time head of state there. “His health is highly critical. He won’t be able to cope if they move him to Papuda … It could be dreadful,” said the senator, who also worried about cramped cells and the condition of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells containing forty inmates: “That’s practically one square metre per detainee.

“We conversed to the prisoners and they grumble, unsurprisingly, of the horrible meals,” continued the senator.

Allies Speak Out

The senator isn't the sole person speaking out ahead of the former president’s predicted imprisonment.

Writing in a prominent newspaper, one more backer, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “harsh” finale to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” political career and claimed Brazil was about to see “the greatest unfairness in its past”.

“It is an injustice that eats away the spirits of millions of Brazilians,” Wajngarten wrote.

Divided General Reaction

It is possibly correct considering the significant backing Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. But his predicted incarceration has also warmed the hearts of numerous others who think he should be imprisoned for planning to prevent his successor from becoming president – and additionally plotting to have him murdered.

The lawmaker, a congressman for the sitting administration's political party, said: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a dark cell. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We wish him to obtain respectful treatment – but respectful treatment in prison. He must not continue being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro allies, who have long praising the tough treatment of inmates, had abruptly woken up to their rights. “Just now has the conservative fringe – which has repeatedly argued that civil liberties should not be for offenders – decided to visit a jail to find out what circumstances are truly like,” he remarked.

“He is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “degrading, degrading conduct”.

Potential Jail Conditions

Despite rumors that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which currently holds about thousands of inmates, his more likely location appears to be a close penitentiary for law enforcement and other “unique” prisoners known as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are far more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro had while residing in the impressive leader's home, approximately a short distance away.

Based on reports, the room Bolsonaro could likely inhabit in Papudinha measures about 24 sq metres – approximately the area of two parking spaces – and includes a 12 sq metre restroom with a bathing area and a 12 square meter terrace. “He could be permitted to have a television and also a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were donated by his loved ones,” information indicated.

Political Responses

Senator Lucas denounced the talked-about proposal to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “an act of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his fate in the {