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He battled the legal system and the legal system triumphed.

Two months following being handed a 27-year sentence for attempting to “destroy” the nation's democratic institutions, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro finally looks destined for incarceration.

Expected Imprisonment

The adjudicated coup-monger – who has been living under residential detention in his estate while a series of legal procedures and petitions play out – is widely expected to be jailed in the next few days, amid growing talk that he will be moved to a notorious high-security facility.

Past Remarks on Convicts

Throughout Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the conservative former military man showed minimal sympathy for Brazil’s prison population.

“For what reason must we give these scoundrels a good life?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be screwed, period. That’s what I reckon.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro stated: “Unless you desire to finish there, all you have to do is to avoid rape, abduction or rob.”

Jail Destination Speculation

But the possibility of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked allies, a group of four this week inspected the facility in an seeming bid to discourage the supreme court from sending him there.

Izalci Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was one of the visitors, stated he predicted the septuagenarian figure to be jailed in the coming fortnight and feared his location could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s acute digestive problems – the outcome of a near-fatal assault during the last political campaign – implied it would be risky to keep the one-time head of state there. “His [health] situation is very grave. He cannot to handle it if they move him to Papuda … It will be awful,” he added, who also worried about overcrowded cells and the quality of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells accommodating 40 inmates: “That’s almost one meter squared per detainee.

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

Allies Speak Out

He is not the lone figure expressing views ahead of the former president’s expected imprisonment.

Penning in a prominent publication, one more backer, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “brutal” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” public service and asserted Brazil was about to experience “the largest unfairness in its past”.

“It is an injustice that gnaws the spirits of countless Brazilian citizens,” the former minister said.

Varied General Opinion

That may be correct due to the significant support Bolsonaro retains on the Brazilian right. However his anticipated imprisonment has also warmed the spirits of millions other people who believe he should be incarcerated for planning to block the elected leader from taking power – and also plotting to have him assassinated.

Reimont Otoni, a congressman for the sitting administration's allied group, commented: “Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. No one wants Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We desire him to obtain dignified handling – but respectful care behind bars. He can’t continue being his personal jailer for his lifetime.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro allies, who have spent years applauding the harsh conditions of convicts, had suddenly realized to their rights. “Just now has the extreme right – which has consistently claimed that civil liberties should not be for offenders – chosen to inspect a penitentiary to learn what circumstances are actually like,” he said.

“Bolsonaro is a criminal,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he merited “humiliating, insulting conduct”.

Possible Jail Conditions

Regardless of talk that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which now houses about thousands of detainees, his more likely assigned facility appears to be a nearby penitentiary for police officers and other “unique” prisoners known as Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

The accommodations are much more adequate than those in the primary facility, although nevertheless a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro enjoyed while living in the spectacular presidential palace, around 20 kilometers away.

Based on sources, the accommodation Bolsonaro could expect to occupy in Papudinha is about 24 square meters – roughly the area of vehicle spaces – and includes a 130 square foot restroom with a shower and a 12 square meter veranda. “The ex-president might be permitted to have a TV and additionally a small fridge in his cell as long as they were provided by his loved ones,” sources stated.

Partisan Reactions

The lawmaker denounced the talked-about idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a form of revenge” on the part of the judicial authority who led Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his fate in the {