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He contested the legal system and the legal system prevailed.

Sixty days subsequent to being handed a 27-year sentence for seeking to “eradicate” Brazil’s political system, former president Jair Bolsonaro finally looks destined for incarceration.

Imminent Incarceration

The found-guilty coup-monger – who had been living under house arrest in his residence while a set of judicial steps and appeals unfold – is widely expected to be imprisoned in the near future, during increasing speculation that he will be moved to a notorious top-security facility.

Past Comments on Inmates

Throughout Bolsonaro’s long public life, the far-right former military man showed scant compassion for Brazil’s inmates.

“For what reason must we give those dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he previously wondered. “They ought to simply be fucked, end of story. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “Should you not wish to wind up there, the only thing required is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”

Incarceration Facility Discussion

However the idea of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda high-security prison in Brasília has appalled allies, a group of four this week toured the complex in an seeming attempt to dissuade the high court from banishing him there.

Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s political party who was among that group, stated he anticipated the septuagenarian politician to be jailed in the following week and a half and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute digestive issues – the result of a life-threatening stabbing during the last political campaign – implied it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His condition is extremely serious. He won’t be able to cope if they send him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” said the senator, who also voiced anxiety about packed cells and the standard of inmate food.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas recalled witnessing cells containing 40 prisoners: “That is virtually one meter squared per prisoner.

“We spoke to the prisoners and they grumble, of course, of the terrible meals,” remarked the senator.

Backers React

The senator isn't the lone figure expressing views prior to the ex-leader's expected detention.

Writing in a major daily, one more backer, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” finale to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and alleged Brazil was about to witness “the greatest unfairness in its record”.

“It represents an unfairness that erodes the hearts of countless Brazilian citizens,” Wajngarten wrote.

Mixed General Reaction

That may be true given the considerable support Bolsonaro maintains on the Brazilian right. But his predicted imprisonment has also gladdened the hearts of many others who feel he should be jailed for plotting to prevent the elected leader from becoming president – and even scheming to have him murdered.

Congressman Otoni, a congressman for the sitting president's allied group, said: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in a dungeon. Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. Nobody wants Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to lie on concrete. We desire him to get respectful handling – but proper handling behind bars. He can’t persist being his own prison warden for his lifetime.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years celebrating the severe handling of inmates, had unexpectedly woken up to their entitlements. “Only now has the far-right – which has repeatedly claimed that human rights are not for offenders – chosen to visit a jail to find out what situations are actually like,” he remarked.

“Bolsonaro is a offender,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he merited “degrading, insulting handling”.

Likely Jail Conditions

Despite rumors that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which presently holds about thousands of prisoners, his probable assigned facility appears to be a nearby prison for officers and other “special” prisoners referred to as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

Its cells are far more comfortable than those in the primary facility, although still a far cry from the luxury Bolsonaro had while residing in the spectacular leader's home, around a short distance away.

As per sources, the room Bolsonaro could expect to inhabit in Papudinha measures about 260 square feet – roughly the dimensions of two parking spaces – and includes a 12 square meter bathroom with a water facility and a 130 square foot balcony. “He could be allowed to have a TV and even a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his loved ones,” the report indicated.

Ideological Comments

He criticized the speculated proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of payback” on the part of the judicial authority who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will decide his future in the {