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He contested the law and the law won.

Two months after getting a quarter-century plus sentence for trying to “destroy” Brazil’s political system, former president Jair Bolsonaro now seems jail-bound.

Expected Imprisonment

The found-guilty instigator – who has been living under home confinement in his residence while a series of judicial steps and challenges proceed – is broadly anticipated to be incarcerated in the near future, amidst increasing speculation that he will be sent to a well-known high-security prison.

Previous Comments on Convicts

Over Bolsonaro’s four-decade time in politics, the conservative ex- paratrooper showed little mercy for Brazil’s prison population.

“For what reason must we provide those scoundrels a good life?” he once mused. “They deserve to be screwed, full-fucking-stop. That's my view.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “Should you not wish to finish behind bars, you simply need is to avoid rape, kidnap or rob.”

Prison Location Debate

However the prospect of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda top-security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, several of whom this week visited the facility in an obvious attempt to dissuade the high court from sending him there.

Izalci Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, said he anticipated the septuagenarian politician to be jailed in the coming fortnight and feared his assigned prison could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute gut ailments – the consequence of a near-fatal stabbing during the 2018 political campaign – implied it would be dangerous to keep the former president there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He won’t be able to manage if they take him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about cramped cells and the standard of inmate food.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells containing four dozen inmates: “It's practically one square metre per prisoner.

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

Backers Voice Concerns

Lucas is not the only voice voicing opinions prior to the former president’s expected detention.

Penning in a prominent daily, one more backer, the ex- government official Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “harsh” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to see “the biggest wrong in its past”.

“This is an unfairness that erodes the hearts of many of Brazilians,” Wajngarten wrote.

Mixed Popular Opinion

This could be correct given the substantial support Bolsonaro holds on the right-wing. However his anticipated incarceration has also gladdened the spirits of numerous others who think he should be jailed for plotting to block the elected leader from assuming office – and also plotting to have him murdered.

The lawmaker, a congressman for the current president's allied group, stated: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in a dark cell. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in segregation. Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to lie on concrete. We desire him to obtain proper treatment – but proper treatment behind bars. He must not continue being his personal jailer for his entire life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro backers, who have spent years applauding the severe conditions of inmates, had unexpectedly realized to their entitlements. “Just now has the extreme right – which has always asserted that human rights are not for offenders – opted to visit a prison to discover what conditions are really like,” he said.

“He is a criminal,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, degrading handling”.

Likely Prison Environment

In spite of speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which now houses about 14,000 prisoners, his expected location looks to be a adjacent jail for law enforcement and other “special” prisoners called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are far more adequate than those in the larger jail, although nevertheless a distant from the comfort Bolsonaro had while residing in the stunning presidential palace, about a short distance away.

Based on reports, the accommodation Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha has about 260 square feet – approximately the dimensions of a couple of car spots – and features a 130 square foot bathroom with a bathing area and a 130 square foot veranda. “He could be allowed to have a TV and also a small fridge in his cell as long as they were donated by his loved ones,” sources indicated.

Political Reactions

The lawmaker criticized the rumoured plan to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “an act of revenge” on the part of the judicial authority who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will rule on his future in the {