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He fought the legal system and the legal system won.

Two months following getting a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “destroy” Brazil’s democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro at last appears headed to prison.

Imminent Jailing

The convicted coup-monger – who has been living under house arrest in his mansion while a number of court processes and petitions play out – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the near future, during growing talk that he will be moved to a notorious high-security prison.

Historical Remarks on Convicts

Throughout Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the conservative ex- paratrooper exhibited scant mercy for the country's jailed individuals.

“What’s the need to offer those scoundrels a comfortable existence?” he once pondered. “They should just get messed, end of story. That's my view.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “Should you not wish to finish in prison, you simply need is not sexual assault, kidnap or rob.”

Prison Facility Discussion

Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison top-security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, four of whom this week toured the prison in an obvious effort to discourage the supreme court from banishing him there.

The senator, a senator from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was among that group, stated he anticipated the septuagenarian leader to be jailed in the next 10 days and worried his assigned prison could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s serious gut problems – the consequence of a near-fatal assault during the 2018 presidential political campaign – meant it would be dangerous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His [health] situation is very grave. He cannot to manage if they take him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he added, who also voiced anxiety about packed cells and the standard of prison meals.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered witnessing cells containing 40 prisoners: “It's almost one square metre per prisoner.

“We talked to the inmates and they grumble, of course, of the awful food,” added the senator.

Allies Speak Out

He is not the sole person expressing views ahead of the one-time head of state's expected incarceration.

Authoring in a prominent newspaper, another ally, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” time in office and alleged Brazil was about to witness “the largest political injustice in its history”.

“It represents an injustice that gnaws the souls of many people in Brazil,” he stated.

Divided General Response

That may be accurate due to the substantial support Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. But his predicted jailing has also pleased the feelings of many others who believe he deserves to be jailed for plotting to block his successor from assuming office – and additionally plotting to have him murdered.

Congressman Otoni, a congressman for the sitting president's political party, commented: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a dark cell. Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We desire him to receive proper treatment – but respectful treatment behind bars. He cannot carry on being his self-appointed guard for his lifetime.”

He observed how Bolsonaro allies, who have spent years celebrating the harsh treatment of convicts, had unexpectedly become aware to their privileges. “Only now has the extreme right – which has always asserted that civil liberties should not be for lawbreakers – chosen to tour a jail to learn what circumstances are actually like,” he said.

“Bolsonaro is a offender,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he merited “shameful, degrading treatment”.

Likely Incarceration Environment

Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which now houses about fourteen thousand prisoners, his more likely destination seems to be a close jail for officers and other “particular” inmates known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

His potential cell are much more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a distant from the luxury Bolsonaro had while living in the impressive presidential palace, around 20 kilometers away.

Based on sources, the accommodation Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha measures about 24 square meters – about the size of two parking spaces – and includes a 12 sq metre bathroom with a water facility and a 130 square foot balcony. “He could be allowed to have a television and additionally a cooler in his cell as long as they were supplied by his loved ones,” sources suggested.

Political Reactions

Senator Lucas criticized the speculated proposal to send the former leader to Papuda as “a form of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s legal case and will determine his future in the {