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He battled the law and the legal system prevailed.

Sixty days after getting a 27-year sentence for attempting to “annihilate” Brazil’s democratic institutions, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro at last seems jail-bound.

Anticipated Jailing

The convicted plotter – who had been living under residential detention in his residence while a number of legal procedures and petitions play out – is largely predicted to be imprisoned in the next few days, amidst growing rumors that he will be sent to a notorious high-security facility.

Previous Comments on Convicts

Over Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the conservative former paratrooper showed scant sympathy for the country's inmates.

“For what reason must we offer those scoundrels a easy time?” he once pondered. “They deserve to be fucked, full-fucking-stop. That’s what I reckon.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to end up in prison, all you have to do is not rape, kidnap or rob.”

Jail Location Discussion

However the possibility of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda high-security prison in Brasília has shocked supporters, a group of four this week toured the prison in an apparent effort to prevent the high court from banishing him there.

The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was one of the visitors, stated he anticipated the septuagenarian politician to be jailed in the coming fortnight and worried his destination could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal ailments – the outcome of a life-threatening stabbing during the last presidential campaign – meant it would be hazardous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His health is extremely serious. He won’t be able to cope if they take him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he added, who also worried about cramped cells and the quality of inmate food.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells containing four dozen inmates: “That is almost one square metre per prisoner.

“We conversed to the convicts and they complain, naturally, of the terrible meals,” continued the senator.

Backers Voice Concerns

He is not the sole person voicing opinions ahead of the ex-leader's predicted incarceration.

Writing in a leading daily, a different supporter, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “severe” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” political career and alleged Brazil was about to witness “the largest wrong in its history”.

“It is an injustice that gnaws the souls of many people in Brazil,” Wajngarten wrote.

Mixed Popular Reaction

This could be accurate due to the considerable following Bolsonaro holds on the conservative side. But his predicted jailing has also warmed the feelings of many other people who believe he deserves to be jailed for plotting to stop the incoming president from becoming president – and also conspiring to have him assassinated.

Congressman Otoni, a politician for the sitting administration's Workers’ party, stated: “Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be placed in a dark cell. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be sent in segregation. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We want him to get respectful handling – but dignified treatment behind bars. He cannot carry on being his self-appointed guard for his lifetime.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time praising the severe conditions of prisoners, had abruptly woken up to their rights. “Only now has the far-right – which has repeatedly argued that basic rights are not for offenders – decided to tour a prison to learn what conditions are actually like,” he remarked.

“The former president is a criminal,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, insulting handling”.

Possible Prison Environment

Despite rumors that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which currently contains about fourteen thousand inmates, his more likely destination seems to be a nearby penitentiary for law enforcement and other “particular” inmates called Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

The accommodations are considerably more adequate than those in the main prison, although still a world away from the comfort Bolsonaro enjoyed while residing in the spectacular presidential palace, about 12 miles away.

Based on information, the accommodation Bolsonaro could anticipate occupy in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – approximately the dimensions of two parking spaces – and includes a 130 square foot WC with a bathing area and a 130 square foot balcony. “He could be permitted to have a TV and also a cooler in his quarters as long as they were donated by his relatives,” sources indicated.

Ideological Reactions

He condemned the rumoured idea to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who oversaw Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will rule on his future in the {