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He fought the legal system and the legal system won.

Two months after being handed a 27-year sentence for attempting to “eradicate” Brazil’s democratic institutions, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro finally looks jail-bound.

Imminent Incarceration

The found-guilty coup-monger – who's been subject to home confinement in his mansion while a set of court processes and challenges play out – is broadly anticipated to be imprisoned in the next few days, during mounting speculation that he will be moved to a well-known top-security penitentiary.

Previous Statements on Inmates

Over Bolsonaro’s 40-year political career, the right-wing former military man showed little mercy for the country's inmates.

“For what reason must we offer those dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They ought to simply be screwed, period. That's my view.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “Should you not wish to wind up there, you simply need is to avoid sexual assault, abduction or theft.”

Prison Facility Debate

Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has horrified allies, a group of four this week toured the complex in an apparent effort to discourage the high court from transferring him there.

Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was one of the visitors, stated he predicted the 70-year-old leader to be jailed in the next 10 days and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute gut ailments – the outcome of a almost deadly assault during the 2018 presidential campaign – meant it would be risky to keep the one-time head of state there. “His condition is highly critical. He will not be able to manage if they move him to Papuda … It could be awful,” he commented, who also expressed concern about cramped cells and the condition of prison meals.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas noted observing cells holding four dozen prisoners: “That is practically one meter squared per prisoner.

“We talked to the convicts and they protest, of course, of the horrible meals,” added the senator.

Backers React

The senator isn't the only voice voicing opinions prior to the one-time head of state's expected incarceration.

Penning in a prominent daily, one more backer, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “brutal” finale to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” political career and claimed Brazil was about to witness “the biggest wrong in its history”.

“It is an injustice that gnaws the hearts of millions of Brazilians,” he stated.

Mixed Popular Reaction

That may be true due to the substantial support Bolsonaro maintains on the conservative side. But his expected jailing has also warmed the hearts of numerous other people who think he ought to be jailed for plotting to stop his successor from becoming president – and also plotting to have him killed.

Congressman Otoni, a representative for the incumbent leader's allied group, stated: “Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be placed in a hole. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be put in isolation. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to lie on concrete. We wish him to obtain respectful treatment – but dignified handling behind bars. He cannot continue being his self-appointed guard for his lifetime.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time celebrating the tough conditions of convicts, had unexpectedly realized to their entitlements. “Just now has the extreme right – which has repeatedly argued that basic rights were not for offenders – chosen to tour a jail to discover what situations are truly like,” he remarked.

“He is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he merited “shameful, demeaning conduct”.

Likely Jail Conditions

Despite rumors that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently houses about thousands of detainees, his probable destination seems to be a nearby penitentiary for police officers and other “particular” inmates called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

His potential cell are much more comfortable than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a distant from the luxury Bolsonaro enjoyed while living in the impressive official residence, about a short distance away.

According to reports, the accommodation Bolsonaro could anticipate inhabit in Papudinha measures about 24 sq metres – approximately the size of vehicle spaces – and features a 130 square foot restroom with a water facility and a 12 square meter balcony. “He could be authorized to have a TV and also a cooler in his room as long as they were provided by his family,” information indicated.

Partisan Comments

He denounced the rumoured plan to send the former leader to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will determine his fate in the {