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He contested the legal system and the law triumphed.

A couple of months after being handed a twenty-seven-year sentence for trying to “annihilate” Brazil’s democracy, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro finally looks headed to prison.

Expected Incarceration

The convicted coup-monger – who's been living under residential detention in his residence while a number of legal procedures and petitions play out – is widely expected to be jailed in the coming days, amid growing rumors that he will be moved to a notorious high-security facility.

Past Comments on Inmates

Throughout Bolsonaro’s long public life, the far-right former paratrooper showed scant mercy for Brazil’s jailed individuals.

“What’s the need to offer these dirtbags a good life?” he once mused. “They should just get screwed, period. That’s what I reckon.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro declared: “If you don’t want to wind up behind bars, all you have to do is to avoid sexual assault, abduction or rob.”

Incarceration Destination Debate

Yet the idea of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison maximum security prison in Brasília has horrified backers, several of whom this week toured the facility in an seeming attempt to prevent the high court from transferring him there.

Izalci Lucas, a senator from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, stated he expected the septuagenarian leader to be incarcerated in the coming fortnight and worried his destination could be Papuda.

He asserted Bolsonaro’s acute intestinal problems – the outcome of a almost deadly assault during the 2018 presidential election race – meant it would be dangerous to keep the ex-leader there. “His condition is extremely serious. He will not be able to manage if they send him to Papuda … It could be dreadful,” said the senator, who also worried about overcrowded cells and the quality of inmate food.

During his tour Papuda, Lucas noted witnessing cells containing 40 detainees: “It's virtually one meter squared per prisoner.

“We talked to the prisoners and they grumble, naturally, of the awful food,” added the senator.

Supporters Voice Concerns

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

Writing in a leading newspaper, another ally, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “severe” finale to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” public service and claimed Brazil was about to see “the biggest wrong in its past”.

“It represents an wrong that gnaws the souls of many of Brazilians,” the former minister said.

Mixed Public Reaction

That may be correct considering the substantial following Bolsonaro retains on the right-wing. However his expected incarceration has also gladdened the hearts of millions other people who feel he ought to be imprisoned for conspiring to block his successor from becoming president – and additionally scheming to have him killed.

Reimont Otoni, a representative for the sitting leader's Workers’ party, commented: “Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be put in a dark cell. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to be put in solitary confinement. No one wishes Bolsonaro not to be fed or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We desire him to obtain dignified handling – but dignified handling behind bars. He cannot carry on being his self-appointed guard for his whole life.”

The congressman noted how Bolsonaro allies, who have spent years applauding the severe conditions of convicts, had unexpectedly realized to their privileges. “Recently has the far-right – which has repeatedly asserted that basic rights were not for offenders – decided to visit a penitentiary to find out what conditions are actually like,” he remarked.

“Bolsonaro is a criminal,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he deserved “humiliating, demeaning treatment”.

Possible Jail Facilities

Regardless of rumors that Bolsonaro could be moved to Papuda, which presently houses about thousands of inmates, his expected location looks to be a nearby penitentiary for officers and other “particular” prisoners called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

His potential cell are much more comfortable than those in the main prison, although nonetheless a world away from the opulence Bolsonaro had while living in the stunning leader's home, about a short distance away.

Based on reports, the room Bolsonaro could likely occupy in Papudinha has about 24 square meters – approximately the size of vehicle spaces – and includes a 12 square meter bathroom with a bathing area and a 12 sq metre terrace. “Bolsonaro would be authorized to have a TV and also a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were provided by his relatives,” sources suggested.

Political Responses

Senator Lucas condemned the speculated plan to send the ex-president to Papuda as “a type of payback” on the part of the presiding magistrate who led Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will rule on his fate in the {