TRUMP PROSECUTION HISTORIC BUT NOT UNIQUE

Former President Donald Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on more than 30 counts related to business fraud. While the case, overseen by District Attorney Alvin Bragg, may be historic and unprecedented for our country, globally this kind of judicial activity is hardly uncommon. Since 2000, in at least 78 countries, leaders who have left office have been charged, prosecuted or jailed. This is not a phenomenon limited to so-called "banana republics." Many of the cases transpired in countries routinely ranked among the world's freest, most democratic and wealthiest nations. Since 1980, not counting impeachments or coups, almost half of the world's countries have at least prosecuted one such case. Examples literally span the globe. In France, two former presidents, Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac were each charged with corruption and found guilty. Sarkozy received a three year prison sentence, of which two were suspended; Chirac was sentenced to two years - both suspended. In Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, who served as prime minister in four governments, was charged multiple times with embezzlement and tax fraud, which earned him four years of confinement. He apparently never learned his lesson and was ultimately again sentenced, this time to seven years in prison and was banned from holding public office for paying for sex with an underage prostitute. However, as leader of the “Forza Italia” political party, he was recently reelected to a seat in Italy’s senate and is now an active participant in the country’s right-wing government coalition. Israel’s former President Moshe Katsav, the country’s 8th president, serving from 2000 to 2007, spent seven years in prison for raping a former employee. Ehud Olmert, prime minister from 2006 to 2009, received a 27 month prison sentence for accepting bribes. And its current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been on trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Many suspect that his attempt to change the judicial system is an attempt to get him off the hook. In Japan, former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka was convicted of bribery and spent four years in prison. Two of South Korea’s former presidents were indicted and convicted: Lee Myung-bak received seventeen years for corruption; Park Geung-hey got twenty-two years for bribery. Ex President Ron-Moo-Hyundai committed suicide while on trial for corruption charges. Argentina’s ex-President Jorge Rafael Videla was sentenced to life imprisonment - where he died. In Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva earned nineteen months behind bars. He was released, and now serves as that country’s president. In South Africa, former President Jacob Zumba was convicted of corruption. The same goes for Taiwan’s President Chen Shui-bian (2000-2006) who received twenty years for the same crime. And the list goes on. Scholars insist that it is important to hold the powerful legally accountable. However, there are likely going to be charges - well founded or not - that prosecutors have political motives. Harvard professor Steven Levitsky is adamant: “Political systems have to handle it. They have to. Because the alternative - saying some people are above the law - is much worse.” Many people will immediately assume that the charges are issued for political reasons, and it may be impossible to persuade them that they are legitimate, non political, prosecutions. Italian political scientist Nathalie Tocci chimes in with: “ I don’t think you can get it right. If you think, legally speaking, there was a crime and you have to proceed, just do it. There is always a justice story and a politics story, and one should try to keep them separated. But it is impossible. If there is an acquittal, it can be proof that the justice system worked. But people will claim that it was all about nothing and it was politically driven." What is clear is that ex President Trump is far from being the only world leader ever facing criminal charges. With multiple prosecutors apparently preparing additional cases against our 45th president, we could be in for a long hot summer. Theo Wierdsma