Former President Donald Trump joins a growing list of world leaders who have been convicted after leaving office, with many critics in the United States arguing that such a move tarnishes the country’s image as a global leader.
A New York City judge found Trump guilty of falsifying business documents related to payments to Michael Cohen for porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. World leaders issued largely subdued comments about the verdict, but some of Trump’s closest advisers criticized it and urged him to “keep fighting.”
Many have argued the former president was targeted for political reasons, pointing out that other cases against him were filed around the same time – though three others, including the Georgia trial, were postponed – and that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg campaigned on a promise to go after Trump.
Trump has argued that the gag order in the case was imposed to protect him from the next election because Democrats “cannot win votes.” Biden has called any attempt to overturn the verdict “reckless” and “irresponsible,” and responded to claims that he engineered the case by saying, “I didn’t know I had that much power.”
Trump’s conviction highlights divisions among former Republican presidential primary opponents
Here are some other countries where opposition leaders and candidates have been prosecuted, sometimes even before elections.
Russia
There is perhaps no more notorious example of the suppression of opposition in modern politics than Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing attempt to remove his arch political rival, Alexei Navalny, from office after a Russian court determined that Navalny violated the terms of his probation by leaving the country, during which he was the victim of an assassination attempt while in Germany.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia in Moscow, Russia, September 2013. (AP/Evgeny Feldman)
A Russian court ultimately convicted Navalny of extremism and sentenced him to 19 years in prison, but he died as a result of harsh conditions in captivity. U.S. intelligence officials found in April that it was unlikely that Putin ordered Navalny’s death, even if they ultimately held him responsible for the treatment that led to his death.
Hong Kong
Trump’s sentence overshadowed news that 14 Hong Kong dissidents had been convicted of “plotting to overthrow state power” and drew condemnation from watchdog groups including Amnesty International, which called the sentences “unprecedented” and “the most ruthless example yet of how the Hong Kong national security law is being weaponized to silence dissent.”
Former VP Mike Pence breaks silence on Trump’s New York City conviction
Former lawmakers Leung Kwok Hung, Lam Cheuk Ting, Wong Lok Hung and Chan Feng are among 12 defendants who could face life sentences when sentenced later this year. ABC News reported..
Prosecutors charged 47 democracy advocates who took part in unofficial primary elections that threatened to create a constitutional crisis and undermine the government’s authority.
India
Critics have accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using the courts to block his main political rival, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, from contesting and campaigning in upcoming elections.
Delhi Chief Minister and Ahmadinejad Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal (centre) and candidate Pawan Kumar Tinu speak during a roadshow ahead of the final stretch of India’s general elections in Jalandhar on May 27, 2024. (Shami Mehra/AFP via Getty Images)
Several leaders of the opposition coalition remain under investigation, and Kejriwal’s party has accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of a “political conspiracy”. According to ReutersKejriwal remains in pre-trial detention while awaiting the verdict on his appeal against his arrest on corruption charges related to Delhi’s liquor policy.
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India’s Supreme Court has provisionally released Kejriwal so he can campaign. He dramatically argued that the election would determine whether India “remains a democracy” and accused Modi of targeting his rivals with criminal investigations.
Brazil
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was released from prison and won re-election in 2022 after the country’s highest court annulled his money laundering and corruption convictions, finding there was significant bias in the case against him.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, February 21, 2024. (Reuters/Adriano Machado)
Lula, who was arrested as part of Operation Car Wash, was accused of offering favours to construction companies in exchange for the promise of beachfront apartments. His arrest and conviction deeply divided Brazil and set off a bitter legal battle that lasted for years.
Venezuela
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has seen his opponents jailed on a range of charges, with opposition leader Nelson Pinero of the centre-right Encuentro Ciudadano party recently jailed on charges of inciting hatred. This was reported by the newspaper El Pais..
Biden says Trump should be given a chance to appeal his conviction, grins and ignores question
The Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) reportedly entered Pinero’s home without a search warrant. Presidential candidate Delsa Solorzano condemned the arrest, saying, “Mr. Nelson is just one of the political prisoners of a dictatorship that has jailed 300 people for not thinking the same way.”
Maduro also jailed opponents of his government in a powerful crackdown on the new government in 2017, jailing opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez and veteran politician Antonio Ledesma for plotting to flee the country and violating the terms of his house arrest by making political comments to the media. Reuters reported..
Cambodia
Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha was found guilty of treason and sentenced to 27 years in prison. He has appealed the sentence, but Amnesty International has called the charges against him “baseless” and called on Cambodian authorities to “end the ongoing crackdown on opposition groups.”
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“Anyone who speaks out against the government puts themselves at risk,” said Montse Ferrer, Amnesty International’s deputy regional research director. Written before the appeal.
“Cambodian authorities must respect, protect, promote and fulfill the human rights of all people in the country, including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and end the expansion of restrictions on civic space,” he added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
