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He battled justice and justice won.

A couple of months subsequent to being handed a 27-year sentence for seeking to “eradicate” Brazil’s democratic institutions, former president Jair Bolsonaro now looks destined for incarceration.

Anticipated Imprisonment

The found-guilty coup-monger – who's been living under residential detention in his mansion while a number of judicial steps and appeals proceed – is broadly anticipated to be jailed in the next few days, amid increasing talk that he will be moved to a notorious top-security penitentiary.

Previous Comments on Convicts

During Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the far-right ex- military man exhibited scant mercy for the country's jailed individuals.

“Why should we give those lowlifes a easy time?” he once mused. “They ought to simply be fucked, end of story. That's my opinion.”

At another time, Bolsonaro stated: “Unless you desire to finish in prison, you simply need is to avoid sexual assault, abduction or rob.”

Jail Location Speculation

But the prospect of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has appalled backers, four of whom this week visited the complex in an seeming effort to dissuade the judiciary from sending him there.

Izalci Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was among that group, claimed he expected the elderly figure to be imprisoned in the following week and a half and worried his location could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s acute digestive issues – the consequence of a almost deadly assault during the 2018 presidential political campaign – implied it would be dangerous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His health is very grave. He will not be able to handle it if they send him to Papuda … It could be awful,” said the senator, who also worried about overcrowded cells and the standard of inmate food.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas noted seeing cells holding 40 prisoners: “That’s almost one meter squared per inmate.

“We spoke to the inmates and they complain, naturally, of the awful food,” added the senator.

Supporters React

The senator isn't the only voice voicing opinions before the one-time head of state's predicted incarceration.

Writing in a major publication, a different supporter, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “brutal” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “spotless” public service and asserted Brazil was about to see “the biggest wrong in its history”.

“It is an injustice that gnaws the souls of many people in Brazil,” the former minister said.

Mixed Popular Opinion

That may be accurate given the considerable following Bolsonaro holds on the right-wing. But his anticipated incarceration has also pleased the spirits of many others who believe he deserves to be imprisoned for conspiring to block the elected leader from becoming president – and additionally conspiring to have him killed.

Reimont Otoni, a politician for the incumbent administration's political party, said: “Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be put in a hole. No one wants Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We desire him to obtain proper treatment – but proper handling in prison. He must not carry on being his self-appointed guard for his lifetime.”

He observed how Bolsonaro backers, who have long praising the severe treatment of inmates, had abruptly woken up to their rights. “Recently has the conservative fringe – which has always argued that human rights should not be for lawbreakers – opted to tour a penitentiary to discover what circumstances are actually like,” he remarked.

“Bolsonaro is a lawbreaker,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, degrading treatment”.

Possible Incarceration Conditions

Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which now houses about 14,000 detainees, his more likely assigned facility appears to be a adjacent penitentiary for officers and other “unique” prisoners called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

His potential cell are considerably more adequate than those in the larger jail, although still a distant from the luxury Bolsonaro experienced while occupying the impressive leader's home, about 20 kilometers away.

According to sources, the cell Bolsonaro could expect to inhabit in Papudinha has about 24 square meters – roughly the area of two parking spaces – and includes a 12 sq metre WC with a water facility and a 12 square meter veranda. “The ex-president might be authorized to have a TV and even a minibar in his room as long as they were provided by his family,” the report indicated.

Partisan Reactions

The lawmaker condemned the speculated idea 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 determine his outcome in the {