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He fought justice and justice won.

A couple of months subsequent to getting a 27-year sentence for trying to “eradicate” Brazil’s democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now looks destined for incarceration.

Anticipated Incarceration

The convicted coup-monger – who has been under residential detention in his estate while a set of court processes and appeals proceed – is widely expected to be jailed in the next few days, amidst mounting talk that he will be moved to a well-known maximum security prison.

Past Statements on Convicts

During Bolsonaro’s 40-year time in politics, the right-wing former soldier displayed scant sympathy for the country's prison population.

“For what reason must we provide these scoundrels a easy time?” he once mused. “They should just get fucked, end of story. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “Should you not wish to finish behind bars, all you have to do is not sexual assault, abduction or rob.”

Prison Facility Debate

Yet the possibility of Bolsonaro himself winding up in the Papuda prison high-security prison in Brasília has horrified allies, a group of four this week visited the prison in an apparent bid to dissuade the supreme court from banishing him there.

Izalci Lucas, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s allied group who was part of that quartet, said he predicted the elderly politician to be imprisoned in the following week and a half and worried his assigned prison could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal problems – the outcome of a almost deadly knife attack during the 2018 election race – implied it would be dangerous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His health is very grave. He cannot to manage if they take him to Papuda … It would be dreadful,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about packed cells and the standard of jail cuisine.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas remembered witnessing cells accommodating four dozen detainees: “That’s almost one square meter per detainee.

“We conversed to the prisoners and they complain, of course, of the awful food,” remarked the senator.

Backers React

He is not the lone figure speaking out prior to the former president’s expected incarceration.

Penning in a prominent newspaper, another ally, the ex- communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “harsh” end to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” time in office and alleged Brazil was about to see “the biggest wrong in its record”.

“This is an injustice that gnaws the souls of many Brazilian citizens,” the former minister said.

Varied Public Reaction

That may be correct given the substantial support Bolsonaro holds on the right-wing. Yet his anticipated imprisonment has also warmed the feelings of many other people who believe he deserves to be jailed for planning to prevent the elected leader from becoming president – and additionally scheming to have him assassinated.

Congressman Otoni, a politician for the incumbent administration's political party, commented: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in a hole. No one wishes Bolsonaro to be put in isolation. Not a soul wishes Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We want him to get respectful care – but proper handling behind bars. He cannot carry on being his self-appointed guard for his lifetime.”

Otoni was struck by how Bolsonaro allies, who have long praising the harsh handling of prisoners, had abruptly realized to their entitlements. “Just now has the extreme right – which has repeatedly argued that civil liberties are not for criminals – chosen to inspect a jail to find out what situations are actually like,” he said.

“He is a lawbreaker,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he deserved “shameful, degrading treatment”.

Likely Prison Facilities

In spite of talk that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which presently holds about fourteen thousand prisoners, his probable location appears to be a close penitentiary for police officers and other “special” inmates called Papudinha (Small Papuda).

The accommodations are much more comfortable than those in the main prison, although still a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro enjoyed while residing in the impressive official residence, about a short distance away.

According to reports, the cell Bolsonaro could expect to reside in in Papudinha measures about 24 square meters – about the size of two parking spaces – and includes a 130 square foot WC with a water facility and a 12 square meter terrace. “The ex-president might be allowed to have a TV and additionally a minibar in his room as long as they were supplied by his family,” sources indicated.

Ideological Responses

He condemned the talked-about plan to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a form of revenge” on the part of the presiding magistrate who presided over Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will determine his outcome in the {