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He fought the law and the legal system triumphed.

Two months subsequent to being handed a 27-year sentence for trying to “eradicate” the nation's democratic institutions, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro at last appears destined for incarceration.

Anticipated Jailing

The adjudicated coup-monger – who had been under residential detention in his estate while a set of judicial steps and challenges unfold – is largely predicted to be incarcerated in the near future, amidst increasing talk that he will be transferred to a well-known top-security facility.

Historical Comments on Convicts

During Bolsonaro’s long political career, the far-right former paratrooper displayed minimal compassion for Brazil’s jailed individuals.

“For what reason must we give these dirtbags a easy time?” he once mused. “They deserve to be fucked, full-fucking-stop. That's my opinion.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “If you don’t want to end up in prison, you simply need is to avoid sexual assault, abduction or rob.”

Jail Location Discussion

But the possibility of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, several of whom this week visited the complex in an apparent bid to prevent the supreme court from transferring him there.

Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s political party who was one of the visitors, said he predicted the septuagenarian figure to be jailed in the coming fortnight and worried his assigned prison could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute gut ailments – the outcome of a near-fatal stabbing during the last political campaign – implied it would be risky to keep the former president there. “His [health] situation is extremely serious. He won’t be able to handle it if they take him to Papuda … It will be awful,” he added, who also worried about packed cells and the quality of jail cuisine.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells accommodating 40 detainees: “It's virtually one square meter per inmate.

“We talked to the convicts and they complain, naturally, of the awful food,” continued the senator.

Supporters Voice Concerns

Lucas is not the lone figure speaking out before the ex-leader's anticipated imprisonment.

Penning in a leading publication, another ally, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “brutal” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” political career and claimed Brazil was about to experience “the greatest wrong in its history”.

“It is an injustice that gnaws the spirits of countless Brazilian citizens,” he stated.

Mixed Public Reaction

This could be accurate given the considerable support Bolsonaro holds on the conservative side. But his predicted incarceration has also gladdened the feelings of many other people who think he deserves to be imprisoned for conspiring to prevent the elected leader from assuming office – and even conspiring to have him killed.

The lawmaker, a representative for the sitting president's political party, said: “No one wants Bolsonaro to be sent in a dungeon. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in solitary confinement. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We want him to get respectful handling – but dignified treatment in prison. He can’t carry on being his own prison warden for his entire life.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro supporters, who have spent years praising the harsh treatment of inmates, had suddenly realized to their privileges. “Only now has the conservative fringe – which has consistently argued that human rights are not for offenders – opted to inspect a penitentiary to learn what situations are really like,” he remarked.

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

Likely Incarceration Environment

Despite speculation that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which currently houses about thousands of detainees, his more likely assigned facility looks to be a adjacent jail for law enforcement and other “particular” prisoners called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

Its cells are far more pleasant than those in the main prison, although nevertheless a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro experienced while occupying the stunning leader's home, around 12 miles away.

According to sources, the room Bolsonaro could expect to inhabit in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – roughly the area of two parking spaces – and includes a 12 sq metre restroom with a shower and a 12 sq metre veranda. “Bolsonaro would be permitted to have a television and even a small fridge in his room as long as they were provided by his relatives,” sources stated.

Ideological Reactions

Senator Lucas criticized the speculated proposal to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of retaliation” on the part of the judicial authority who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will rule on his fate in the {