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He fought the law and the law prevailed.

Sixty days subsequent to getting a quarter-century plus sentence for seeking to “annihilate” the nation's democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now appears headed to prison.

Expected Incarceration

The adjudicated coup-monger – who has been under home confinement in his residence while a number of court processes and appeals unfold – is widely expected to be imprisoned in the near future, amidst mounting talk that he will be sent to a notorious top-security facility.

Past Comments on Prisoners

Throughout Bolsonaro’s four-decade public life, the far-right former soldier showed scant sympathy for Brazil’s jailed individuals.

“What’s the need to provide those scoundrels a good life?” he once pondered. “They ought to simply be screwed, end of story. That's my opinion.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “Unless you desire to end up in prison, you simply need is to avoid sexual assault, abduction or theft.”

Jail Destination Discussion

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has shocked allies, four of whom this week toured the prison in an seeming attempt to dissuade the judiciary from sending him there.

The senator, a senator from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, said he expected the elderly politician to be jailed in the following week and a half and worried his assigned prison could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s severe gut problems – the outcome of a near-fatal knife attack during the 2018 presidential election race – implied it would be risky to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is very grave. He will not be able to manage if they send him to Papuda … It will be dreadful,” said the senator, who also expressed concern about packed cells and the standard of inmate food.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas recalled witnessing cells containing 40 detainees: “That is practically one meter squared per inmate.

“We conversed to the inmates and they complain, of course, of the awful cuisine,” continued the senator.

Supporters Speak Out

He is not the sole person expressing views before the former president’s predicted detention.

Penning in a major publication, one more backer, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “severe” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” public service and asserted Brazil was about to see “the biggest unfairness in its past”.

“This is an wrong that gnaws the souls of countless Brazilian citizens,” the former minister said.

Varied Popular Opinion

That may be correct given the substantial following Bolsonaro maintains on the right-wing. Yet his expected incarceration has also pleased the hearts of many others who think he deserves to be incarcerated for planning to stop his successor from becoming president – and also conspiring to have him murdered.

Reimont Otoni, a representative for the sitting leader's Workers’ party, stated: “Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be put in a dark cell. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be placed 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 obtain dignified care – but proper handling while incarcerated. He cannot continue being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro allies, who have long praising the tough handling of inmates, had suddenly woken up to their privileges. “Recently has the far-right – which has repeatedly argued that civil liberties were not for criminals – opted to visit a penitentiary to learn what situations are truly like,” he said.

“The former president is a criminal,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he merited “humiliating, insulting conduct”.

Possible Prison Facilities

Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which now contains about thousands of inmates, his more likely location seems to be a nearby prison for law enforcement and other “unique” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Little Papuda).

The accommodations are much more pleasant than those in the main prison, although nevertheless a far cry from the luxury Bolsonaro experienced while residing in the stunning official residence, about 20 kilometers away.

According to information, the room Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – about the size of a couple of car spots – and contains a 130 square foot restroom with a bathing area and a 130 square foot balcony. “Bolsonaro would be allowed to have a TV and also a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were donated by his family,” the report stated.

Political Reactions

He criticized the speculated idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “an act of revenge” on the part of the judicial authority who oversaw Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his future in the {