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He battled the legal system and the law won.

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

Expected Incarceration

The adjudicated coup-monger – who has been living under home confinement in his residence while a set of legal procedures and petitions unfold – is widely expected to be incarcerated in the next few days, amid increasing talk that he will be moved to a notorious top-security facility.

Previous Comments on Convicts

Over Bolsonaro’s four-decade public life, the far-right former military man exhibited scant mercy for the country's prison population.

“For what reason must we give those lowlifes a comfortable existence?” he once pondered. “They ought to simply be messed, period. That's my view.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro stated: “Unless you desire to finish behind bars, all you have to do is to avoid sexual assault, abduction or rob.”

Jail Location Speculation

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda high-security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, several of whom this week toured the facility in an apparent bid to discourage the judiciary from transferring him there.

Senator Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was one of the visitors, said he expected the elderly leader to be incarcerated in the coming fortnight and feared his destination could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s serious digestive ailments – the outcome of a almost deadly stabbing during the 2018 election race – implied it would be hazardous to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is highly critical. He cannot to manage if they take him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” said the senator, who also expressed concern about packed cells and the standard of prison meals.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells accommodating four dozen inmates: “It's virtually one square meter per prisoner.

“We talked to the prisoners and they complain, unsurprisingly, of the awful cuisine,” added the senator.

Supporters Voice Concerns

The senator isn't the only voice speaking out prior to the one-time head of state's anticipated detention.

Penning in a major newspaper, a different supporter, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “harsh” end to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and claimed Brazil was about to witness “the biggest political injustice in its past”.

“It is an wrong that gnaws the spirits of millions Brazilian citizens,” Wajngarten wrote.

Varied General Response

This could be accurate given the considerable backing Bolsonaro holds on the Brazilian right. Yet his expected imprisonment has also warmed the feelings of millions others who think he deserves to be jailed for conspiring to stop his successor from assuming office – and even conspiring to have him killed.

Congressman Otoni, a representative for the current leader's Workers’ party, said: “No one wants Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. No one wants Bolsonaro to be sent in segregation. No one desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We desire him to receive proper handling – but proper treatment while incarcerated. He cannot continue being his own prison warden for his whole life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have for a long time praising the tough treatment of convicts, had abruptly woken up to their rights. “Only now has the extreme right – which has consistently asserted that human rights are not for offenders – opted to visit a prison to discover what circumstances are truly like,” he remarked.

“Bolsonaro is a criminal,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he merited “shameful, degrading treatment”.

Likely Incarceration Environment

In spite of speculation that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now holds about fourteen thousand detainees, his expected destination appears to be a nearby jail for law enforcement and other “special” detainees called Papudinha (Small Papuda).

The accommodations are considerably more adequate than those in the main prison, although nevertheless a world away from the luxury Bolsonaro experienced while occupying the impressive leader's home, about 20 kilometers away.

As per reports, the room Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – approximately the dimensions of two parking spaces – and features a 130 square foot restroom with a bathing area and a 12 square meter terrace. “Bolsonaro would be authorized to have a TV and also a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his family,” the report suggested.

Political Responses

Senator Lucas denounced the talked-about proposal to send the former leader to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s legal case and will determine his fate in the {