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He fought justice and the law triumphed.

Sixty days following being handed a twenty-seven-year sentence for seeking to “eradicate” Brazil’s democracy, former president Jair Bolsonaro at last appears headed to prison.

Expected Incarceration

The found-guilty coup-monger – who's been subject to residential detention in his estate while a number of court processes and petitions proceed – is widely expected to be jailed in the next few days, amidst mounting talk that he will be transferred to a notorious top-security penitentiary.

Past Remarks on Inmates

During Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the conservative ex- paratrooper exhibited little compassion for the country's prison population.

“What’s the need to provide those lowlifes a good life?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be fucked, end of story. That's my opinion.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to wind up there, the only thing required is not rape, kidnap or theft.”

Jail Destination Discussion

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has horrified backers, four of whom this week toured the complex in an seeming effort to discourage the judiciary from banishing him there.

Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was one of the visitors, claimed he anticipated the septuagenarian leader to be jailed in the following week and a half and was concerned his location could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s severe digestive ailments – the outcome of a almost deadly stabbing during the last election race – implied it would be dangerous to keep the former president there. “His health is extremely serious. He won’t be able to manage if they move him to Papuda … It could be awful,” he added, who also voiced anxiety about packed cells and the condition of inmate food.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas noted seeing cells accommodating 40 inmates: “That’s almost one square meter per prisoner.

“We conversed to the prisoners and they complain, naturally, of the horrible meals,” remarked the senator.

Supporters React

The senator isn't the lone figure expressing views ahead of the one-time head of state's anticipated detention.

Writing in a leading daily, a different supporter, the ex- communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “harsh” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” public service and alleged Brazil was about to witness “the biggest wrong in its record”.

“It represents an wrong that erodes the hearts of millions of Brazilians,” the former minister said.

Divided Popular Opinion

It is possibly correct given the substantial support Bolsonaro holds on the right-wing. But his expected incarceration has also pleased the spirits of many individuals who think he ought to be jailed for planning to prevent the incoming president from assuming office – and even conspiring to have him murdered.

Congressman Otoni, a politician for the sitting president's allied group, said: “Nobody wants Bolsonaro to be sent in a dark cell. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be sent in segregation. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to lie on concrete. We want him to receive proper handling – but dignified care behind bars. He must not persist being his own prison warden for his whole life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long praising the tough conditions of inmates, had suddenly become aware to their privileges. “Only now has the far-right – which has always claimed that basic rights are not for lawbreakers – chosen to tour a jail to find out what conditions are really like,” he said.

“The former president is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he earned “shameful, degrading handling”.

Potential Jail Environment

Regardless of speculation that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which currently holds about fourteen thousand inmates, his more likely location looks to be a close penitentiary for law enforcement and other “particular” inmates called Papudinha (Small Papuda).

Its cells are far more comfortable than those in the main prison, although still a distant from the luxury Bolsonaro enjoyed while occupying the impressive presidential palace, around 12 miles away.

According to sources, the room Bolsonaro could anticipate inhabit in Papudinha measures about 24 square meters – about the size of vehicle spaces – and features a 12 square meter restroom with a shower and a 12 sq metre terrace. “The ex-president might be allowed to have a television and additionally a cooler in his room as long as they were provided by his loved ones,” sources suggested.

Ideological Reactions

Senator Lucas denounced the rumoured plan to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “an act of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who led Bolsonaro’s legal case and will determine his future in the {