Donald Trump was fined $1,000 and was as soon as in opposition to held in contempt of courtroom Monday, this time for violating a gag order. That marked the tenth time the ex-president has been held in contempt, inching Judge Juan Merchan nearer to throwing him behind bars, he warned.
Merchan asserted that he doesn’t need to have Trump imprisoned forward of his trial’s completion, however mentioned the court-imposed fines—totaling a mere $10,000—have carried out little to discourage the billionaire businessman-turned-politician from behaving throughout his hush-money trial.
If Trump have been to be thrown within the clink, he’d be the primary U.S. president to spend time behind bars. However, he’d be removed from the primary world chief to seek out himself imprisoned. Below are some notable politicians to be jailed and the way they ended up there.
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela upon being launched from jail after 27 years in apartheid jails on Feb. 11, 1990.
Reuters
The nature of Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment and the potential lock-up of Trump couldn’t be any extra totally different. Mandela, South Africa’s first Black president, who led his nation between 1994 to 1999, spent 27 years in jail for opposing its apartheid system. He was launched in 1990, months earlier than apartheid formally ended, after dealing with harsh jail situations for many years. That included a very brutal spell on the Robben Island Prison off the coast of Cape Town, the place he was pressured to do arduous labor in a quarry and was permitted to only a single go to—for half-hour—from family members yearly. Despite being behind bars, Mandela turned a family identify throughout the globe, representing the battle of Black South Africans and exposing the crippling racism that continued in South Africa.
While Mandela was a champion of peace and justice, traits Trump routinely flouts, the ex-president has nonetheless made it some extent to talk of—and even examine himself to—the late South African chief on a number of events. That included the day Mandela was launched from jail on Feb. 11, 1990, when Trump introduced he was divorcing his first spouse, Ivana Trump—a information story Trump claimed acquired extra consideration stateside than that of Mandela’s launch. “Nobody knew that Nelson Mandela existed,” he mentioned. “He came out of jail that day and nobody knew it in New York and throughout the country.”
Most just lately, Trump in contrast his prosecution to that of the South African chief in April by saying, “I don’t mind being Nelson Mandela, because I’m doing it for a reason. We’ve got to save our country from these fascists, these lunatics that we’re dealing with. They’re horrible people and they’re destroying our country.”
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had his corruption conviction overturned in 2021, opening him as much as run for the presidency as soon as once more.
Reuters
Like Trump hopes to attain this election season, the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was re-elected to steer Brazil in 2022 after a tumultuous interval adopted his first stint in workplace. Silva, who was president between 2003 to 2010, was convicted of cash laundering and corruption in 2017 and was sentenced to 12 years behind bars. Petitions to stave off jail time have been rejected by Brazilian courts, and he was in the end thrown in jail the next yr—sparking the Free Lula Movement that put strain on authorities to permit Silva, who continued to marketing campaign from behind bars, to once more enchantment his conviction. Those efforts culminated along with his conviction being overturned in 2021.
The following yr, he defeated Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro to win the presidency. Bolsonaro himself is now the topic of a number of investigations, together with allegations he harassed a humpback whale off the Brazilian coast and that he fudged his COVID-19 vaccine card to journey to the U.S. at a time when tight entry restrictions on un-vaccinated foreigners remained in place.
Moshe Katsav
Moshe Katsav spent 5 years in jail after he was convicted of rape and different sexual offenses.
Reuters
Moshe Katsav, the Israeli president from 2000 to 2007, is among the many few world leaders to spend time behind bars for intercourse crimes. He was accused of rape and sexual harassment by 10 ladies who labored below him in earlier stints throughout the Israeli authorities. He resigned from the presidency in 2007 and was convicted of two counts of rape, obstruction of justice, and different costs in 2011—a landmark ruling that ultimately made its approach to the Israeli Supreme Court, which upheld the conviction. Katsav was sentenced to spend seven years in jail, however was launched after 5. The conviction decimated his standing in Israeli politics, regardless of nonetheless having the help of highly effective allies, like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who mentioned his conviction in 2011 marked a “sad day for Israel.”
Katsav requested a courtroom to permit him to serve his sentence from his residence, arguing he could reveal state secrets and techniques if he was attacked by fellow inmates. That request was in the end denied and, later in 2011, he reported to the notorious Maasiyahu Prison in Ramla. While there, the place he was denied entry to tv and newspapers, and was ordered to check sacred Jewish texts for big swaths of the day. He was mentioned to have been harassed by fellow convicts he refused to pardon as president, resulting in a minimum of one being transferred. He was launched in 2016, however was barred from chatting with the media and returning to politics.
Park Geun-hye
Park Geun-hye was sentenced to spend 24 years in jail on corruption costs, however was launched after simply 5.
Reuters
South Korea hasn’t been sort to its former leaders in latest a long time. Four of its former presidents have been jailed for corruption because the Eighties, and one other ex-president, Roh Moo-hyun, died by suicide in 2009 whereas being probed on comparable allegations. While every occasion made worldwide information, the prosecution of Park Geun-hye nonetheless lives contemporary within the minds of these in South Korea and elsewhere. Geun-hye, the primary lady to be elected president in Korea and because the head of state anyplace in East Asia, was impeached in 2017 on accusations of bribery and abuse of energy. She was criminally convicted the next yr and was sentenced to 24 years in jail. However, Geun-hye was pardoned in 2022, 5 years into her sentence, and retreated to a life outdoors of politics. South Korea presidents are restricted to a single five-year time period, which insulates it in opposition to former leaders searching for to regain energy in hopes they’ll stave off their very own authorized investigations.
Close calls in France
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has managed to save lots of off jail time regardless of being convicted of corruption and affect peddling.
Reuters
France has pursued costs in opposition to two former presidents after they left workplace, however, regardless of convictions, neither has needed to spend a second within the clink—a minimum of, not but. Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France between 2007-2012, was convicted of corruption, affect peddling, and unlawful marketing campaign financing in a pair of trials in 2021. He was handed twin custodial sentences—a yr in jail and a yr’s home arrest—however had these sentences positioned on maintain whereas he appeals. In a 3rd case, which might go to trial this yr, he’s accused of accepting unlawful marketing campaign funding from Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi in 2007—extra allegations that would ultimately land him in jail if convicted.
Sarkozy has maintained he’s harmless of every cost in opposition to him and maintains sway in French politics, although nowhere the diploma Trump has maintained within the U.S.
Sarkozy’s predecessor, Jacques Chirac, additionally confronted prison costs. He was slapped with a two-year suspended sentence in 2011 after he was discovered responsible of affect peddling, breach of belief, and embezzlement whereas he was mayor of Paris, however by no means needed to spend time behind bars. He died in 2019, aged 86.