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He contested the legal system and the law triumphed.

A couple of months following being handed a twenty-seven-year sentence for trying to “eradicate” Brazil’s democratic institutions, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now looks destined for incarceration.

Imminent Jailing

The convicted instigator – who has been living under house arrest in his estate while a number of court processes and appeals unfold – is widely expected to be jailed in the next few days, amid growing speculation that he will be sent to a well-known top-security penitentiary.

Previous Comments on Convicts

Throughout Bolsonaro’s 40-year political career, the right-wing ex- soldier showed scant mercy for the country's inmates.

“For what reason must we offer these lowlifes a good life?” 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 end up behind bars, the only thing required is not sexual assault, abduction or rob.”

Incarceration Destination Discussion

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has horrified backers, several of whom this week inspected the facility in an apparent effort to discourage the high court from sending him there.

The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was part of that quartet, said he anticipated the 70-year-old politician to be incarcerated in the next 10 days and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious intestinal problems – the result of a life-threatening stabbing during the 2018 presidential presidential campaign – signified it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His condition is very grave. He will not be able to manage if they move him to Papuda … It would be terrible,” he commented, who also worried about packed cells and the quality of jail cuisine.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells holding forty prisoners: “That is practically one square meter per inmate.

“We talked to the prisoners and they protest, unsurprisingly, of the awful meals,” added the senator.

Backers Speak Out

The senator isn't the sole person voicing opinions prior to the ex-leader's expected detention.

Penning in a prominent daily, another ally, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and alleged Brazil was about to see “the biggest unfairness in its past”.

“It is an wrong that erodes the souls of millions of Brazilians,” the former minister said.

Divided General Response

That may be true given the substantial support Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. Yet his anticipated incarceration has also gladdened the spirits of numerous others who think he ought to be imprisoned for conspiring to prevent the incoming president from assuming office – and also conspiring to have him killed.

Congressman Otoni, a politician for the incumbent president's allied group, commented: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in a dungeon. No one desires Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We desire him to receive proper handling – but proper care in prison. He must not carry on being his own prison warden for his whole life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro allies, who have for a long time celebrating the tough handling of convicts, had abruptly realized to their entitlements. “Just now has the far-right – which has consistently claimed that basic rights should not be for lawbreakers – chosen to inspect a jail to find out what situations are really like,” he said.

“The former president is a offender,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, insulting treatment”.

Likely Incarceration Conditions

Regardless of talk that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which now contains about fourteen thousand detainees, his more likely assigned facility appears to be a close jail for police officers and other “particular” inmates referred to as Papudinha (Small Papuda).

His potential cell are much more comfortable than those in the main prison, although nevertheless a far cry from the opulence Bolsonaro enjoyed while residing in the stunning official residence, approximately 12 miles away.

Based on reports, the room Bolsonaro could anticipate reside in in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – roughly the size of a couple of car spots – and includes a 130 square foot WC with a water facility and a 12 square meter terrace. “He could be authorized to have a TV and even a small fridge in his room as long as they were supplied by his family,” the report suggested.

Ideological Responses

He condemned the talked-about idea to send the ex-president to Papuda as “an act of revenge” on the part of the judicial authority who led Bolsonaro’s legal case and will determine his future in the {