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He contested the law and the law triumphed.

A couple of months following being handed a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “annihilate” the nation's democratic institutions, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last looks jail-bound.

Expected Imprisonment

The found-guilty coup-monger – who's been under residential detention in his estate while a set of legal procedures and appeals unfold – is widely expected to be imprisoned in the near future, amidst growing speculation that he will be transferred to a notorious top-security penitentiary.

Previous Remarks on Convicts

During Bolsonaro’s long public life, the far-right ex- military man displayed scant mercy for the country's inmates.

“For what reason must we give these lowlifes a easy time?” he once mused. “They deserve to be messed, end of story. That's my opinion.”

At another time, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to wind up behind bars, the only thing required is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or rob.”

Incarceration Facility Discussion

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

Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was among that group, stated he anticipated the elderly figure to be jailed in the coming fortnight and worried his destination could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s serious intestinal problems – the consequence of a almost deadly stabbing during the 2018 presidential political campaign – implied it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is highly critical. He won’t be able to handle it if they move him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” said the senator, who also worried about cramped cells and the standard of jail cuisine.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells accommodating 40 detainees: “That’s practically one square meter per inmate.

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

Allies React

Lucas is not the sole person expressing views before the one-time head of state's predicted imprisonment.

Writing in a major newspaper, a different supporter, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” public service and claimed Brazil was about to see “the largest unfairness in its record”.

“It is an wrong that erodes the souls of countless Brazilian citizens,” Wajngarten wrote.

Mixed Popular Response

It is possibly true considering the considerable support Bolsonaro holds on the Brazilian right. But his predicted incarceration has also warmed the hearts of millions other people who believe he deserves to be jailed for conspiring to block his successor from becoming president – and even scheming to have him assassinated.

Reimont Otoni, a politician for the sitting president's allied group, commented: “Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be placed in a dungeon. Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be placed in isolation. Nobody wants Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We desire him to obtain dignified care – but dignified treatment while incarcerated. He must not carry on being his personal jailer for his whole life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time celebrating the tough handling of inmates, had abruptly become aware to their rights. “Just now has the extreme right – which has always claimed that human rights are not for criminals – decided to tour a jail to discover what circumstances are actually like,” he remarked.

“He is a criminal,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he earned “degrading, insulting conduct”.

Possible Incarceration Conditions

Regardless of rumors that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now contains about thousands of inmates, his probable location looks to be a nearby jail for police officers and other “unique” detainees known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

His potential cell are far more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nevertheless a far cry from the opulence Bolsonaro had while living in the impressive official residence, around 20 kilometers away.

Based on sources, the cell Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha has about 260 square feet – about the size of two parking spaces – and contains a 12 sq metre restroom with a water facility and a 12 square meter terrace. “The ex-president might be permitted to have a TV and additionally a cooler in his quarters as long as they were donated by his loved ones,” sources indicated.

Political Responses

The lawmaker criticized the talked-about idea to send the former leader to Papuda as “a type of retaliation” on the part of the presiding magistrate who led Bolsonaro’s legal case and will rule on his fate in the {