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He battled justice and the legal system prevailed.

Two months subsequent to being handed a quarter-century plus sentence for seeking to “destroy” Brazil’s political system, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro finally appears jail-bound.

Expected Incarceration

The adjudicated instigator – who has been living under home confinement in his estate while a number of court processes and petitions play out – is broadly anticipated to be jailed in the coming days, during increasing talk that he will be transferred to a infamous maximum security facility.

Historical Comments on Prisoners

Throughout Bolsonaro’s long time in politics, the far-right former soldier exhibited little compassion for Brazil’s inmates.

“What’s the need to offer those lowlifes a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They should just get messed, end of story. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “Unless you desire to wind up in prison, all you have to do is to avoid sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”

Incarceration Destination Debate

But the idea of Bolsonaro himself landing in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has horrified allies, several of whom this week toured the prison in an obvious effort to discourage the judiciary from sending him there.

Senator Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, said he expected the elderly leader to be jailed in the coming fortnight and feared his destination could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s serious digestive issues – the outcome of a life-threatening stabbing during the last political campaign – meant it would be dangerous to keep the ex-leader there. “His health is extremely serious. He won’t be able to handle it if they move him to Papuda … It could be dreadful,” he commented, who also worried about overcrowded cells and the quality of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas recalled observing cells holding four dozen detainees: “That’s virtually one meter squared per inmate.

“We talked to the convicts and they protest, of course, of the terrible cuisine,” remarked the senator.

Supporters React

Lucas is not the lone figure voicing opinions before the ex-leader's predicted incarceration.

Penning in a leading publication, one more backer, the ex- cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, deplored the “severe” conclusion to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” time in office and claimed Brazil was about to experience “the greatest political injustice in its history”.

“This is an wrong that erodes the souls of countless Brazilian citizens,” he stated.

Divided Public Opinion

It is possibly true due to the significant following Bolsonaro holds on the conservative side. However his expected jailing has also gladdened the feelings of numerous other people who feel he deserves to be jailed for plotting to prevent his successor from becoming president – and additionally plotting to have him assassinated.

Congressman Otoni, a representative for the sitting administration's Workers’ party, stated: “Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to be put in a dungeon. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to be put in segregation. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to lie on concrete. We wish him to get proper handling – but dignified handling while incarcerated. He can’t continue being his personal jailer for his whole life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro allies, who have long praising the tough handling of convicts, had unexpectedly woken up to their entitlements. “Only now has the extreme right – which has always claimed that civil liberties should not be for lawbreakers – decided to inspect a prison to find out what situations are truly like,” he stated.

“Bolsonaro is a lawbreaker,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he deserved “degrading, insulting handling”.

Possible Incarceration Environment

In spite of speculation that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which presently holds about thousands of inmates, his more likely location looks to be a adjacent prison for law enforcement and other “particular” detainees known as Papudinha (Small Papuda).

His potential cell are much more adequate than those in the main prison, although still a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro had while living in the spectacular leader's home, approximately a short distance away.

According to information, the room Bolsonaro could expect to inhabit in Papudinha is about 24 square meters – roughly the area of vehicle spaces – and includes a 130 square foot bathroom with a bathing area and a 12 sq metre veranda. “The ex-president might be authorized to have a set and also a cooler in his cell as long as they were supplied by his relatives,” sources suggested.

Political Responses

Senator Lucas condemned the rumoured plan to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will decide his future in the {