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He battled justice and justice triumphed.

Two months following being handed a twenty-seven-year sentence for seeking to “destroy” the nation's democratic institutions, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro now looks headed to prison.

Imminent Imprisonment

The convicted plotter – who has been living under home confinement in his estate while a set of judicial steps and petitions play out – is broadly anticipated to be incarcerated in the near future, amid mounting talk that he will be moved to a well-known maximum security prison.

Previous Comments on Inmates

During Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the far-right former soldier displayed scant sympathy for the country's prison population.

“What’s the need to offer those scoundrels a good life?” he once pondered. “They should just get messed, period. That's my opinion.”

In another instance, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to finish behind bars, all you have to do is to avoid sexual assault, abduction or theft.”

Jail Location Debate

Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison high-security prison in Brasília has appalled supporters, four of whom this week visited the facility in an obvious attempt to prevent the judiciary from transferring him there.

The senator, a politician from Bolsonaro’s political party who was among that group, said he anticipated the septuagenarian leader to be jailed in the next 10 days and feared his location could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s severe digestive issues – the consequence of a near-fatal knife attack during the 2018 presidential election race – meant it would be risky to keep the one-time head of state there. “His condition is very grave. He won’t be able to handle it if they take him to Papuda … It could be dreadful,” he commented, who also worried about overcrowded cells and the condition of prison meals.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas remembered observing cells accommodating four dozen prisoners: “That is practically one square meter per inmate.

“We spoke to the inmates and they protest, unsurprisingly, of the horrible meals,” added the senator.

Backers Voice Concerns

He is not the sole person voicing opinions before the one-time head of state's anticipated incarceration.

Authoring in a major publication, another ally, the former government official Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “harsh” end to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” public service and asserted Brazil was about to witness “the biggest wrong in its history”.

“It represents an unfairness that eats away the spirits of many Brazilian citizens,” the former minister said.

Mixed Popular Response

That may be accurate considering the considerable backing Bolsonaro holds on the Brazilian right. But his anticipated incarceration has also gladdened the feelings of millions other people who believe he should be jailed for planning to stop the incoming president from taking power – and even scheming to have him assassinated.

The lawmaker, a congressman for the incumbent president's allied group, said: “Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be put in segregation. No one wants Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We want him to receive dignified care – but dignified care while incarcerated. He cannot continue being his self-appointed guard for his lifetime.”

He observed how Bolsonaro supporters, who have long applauding the severe treatment of convicts, had abruptly realized to their rights. “Only now has the far-right – which has always argued that civil liberties are not for lawbreakers – opted to visit a penitentiary to discover what circumstances are truly like,” he stated.

“He is a offender,” the congressman maintained, but that did not mean he deserved “degrading, demeaning handling”.

Potential Incarceration Facilities

Regardless of rumors that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which now houses about 14,000 inmates, his expected location seems to be a adjacent jail for officers and other “particular” prisoners called Papudinha (Minor Papuda).

His potential cell are considerably more pleasant than those in the primary facility, although still a distant from the luxury Bolsonaro had while residing in the impressive official residence, around 20 kilometers away.

According to sources, the accommodation Bolsonaro could expect to reside in in Papudinha is about 24 sq metres – approximately the area of two parking spaces – and contains a 12 square meter WC with a bathing area and a 130 square foot veranda. “Bolsonaro would be authorized to have a television and even a minibar in his cell as long as they were supplied by his family,” sources indicated.

Partisan Comments

The lawmaker denounced the speculated idea to send the former leader to Papuda as “an act of revenge” on the part of the judicial authority who presided over Bolsonaro’s legal case and will decide his future in the {