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He contested justice and justice triumphed.

Two months after receiving a twenty-seven-year sentence for seeking to “destroy” Brazil’s democracy, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro now looks jail-bound.

Anticipated Incarceration

The found-guilty instigator – who had been under home confinement in his mansion while a set of judicial steps and petitions unfold – is largely predicted to be imprisoned in the coming days, amid mounting talk that he will be transferred to a infamous maximum security penitentiary.

Past Statements on Prisoners

During Bolsonaro’s 40-year time in politics, the far-right ex- paratrooper showed scant compassion for the country's inmates.

“Why should we provide these dirtbags a comfortable existence?” he once mused. “They should just get messed, end of story. That's my view.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro stated: “Unless you desire to finish in prison, you simply need is not rape, abduction or rob.”

Jail Location Debate

Yet the prospect of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda prison high-security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, four of whom this week toured the complex in an apparent bid to dissuade the judiciary from banishing him there.

Izalci Lucas, a politician from Bolsonaro’s political party who was part of that quartet, claimed he predicted the elderly politician to be imprisoned in the coming fortnight and was concerned his assigned prison could be Papuda.

Lucas claimed Bolsonaro’s severe gut problems – the outcome of a life-threatening assault during the 2018 presidential election race – signified it would be dangerous to keep the ex-leader there. “His condition is highly critical. He will not be able to manage if they send him to Papuda … It would be terrible,” said the senator, who also worried about cramped cells and the standard of jail cuisine.

When inspecting Papuda, Lucas recalled seeing cells containing forty detainees: “That’s practically one square metre per prisoner.

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

Supporters Voice Concerns

He is not the lone figure voicing opinions ahead of the one-time head of state's predicted incarceration.

Authoring in a major newspaper, one more backer, the former communications minister Fábio Wajngarten, bemoaned the “severe” end to Bolsonaro’s “impeccable” public service and claimed Brazil was about to experience “the greatest political injustice in its history”.

“This is an injustice that gnaws the souls of many people in Brazil,” he stated.

Mixed General Opinion

That may be true given the substantial support Bolsonaro retains on the Brazilian right. But his expected incarceration has also gladdened the feelings of many others who believe he should be imprisoned for plotting to stop the elected leader from becoming president – and additionally scheming to have him killed.

Congressman Otoni, a representative for the sitting leader's political party, stated: “Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in a hole. Nobody wishes Bolsonaro to be placed in solitary confinement. Nobody desires Bolsonaro to go hungry or for him to have to sleep on the floor. We wish him to receive respectful care – but dignified care behind bars. He must not persist being his own prison warden for his lifetime.”

He observed how Bolsonaro backers, who have for a long time applauding the harsh conditions of inmates, had unexpectedly become aware to their entitlements. “Recently has the far-right – which has always claimed that civil liberties are not for lawbreakers – chosen to inspect a penitentiary to learn what conditions are truly like,” he said.

“He is a offender,” Otoni insisted, but that did not mean he earned “shameful, degrading handling”.

Potential Prison Environment

In spite of talk that Bolsonaro could be sent to Papuda, which presently houses about 14,000 detainees, his more likely assigned facility looks to be a close jail for law enforcement and other “unique” inmates called Papudinha (Small Papuda).

The accommodations are far more pleasant than those in the larger jail, although nonetheless a distant from the opulence Bolsonaro enjoyed while occupying the spectacular presidential palace, around 12 miles away.

According to sources, the cell Bolsonaro could anticipate inhabit in Papudinha has about 24 sq metres – roughly the dimensions of two parking spaces – and features a 130 square foot bathroom with a water facility and a 130 square foot balcony. “The ex-president might be permitted to have a TV and even a small fridge in his quarters as long as they were donated by his family,” the report indicated.

Political Responses

The lawmaker criticized the speculated idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a form of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who led Bolsonaro’s proceedings and will decide his fate in the {