WASHINGTON – During Donald Trump faces the prospect of becoming the first former US President to face criminal prosecutionother democracies have shown no qualms about bringing their leaders to justice over the past 20 years.
Perhaps the most prominent is Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been on trial for years on corruption charges, which he denies. Two of his predecessors were imprisoned.
South Korea is even rougher and stormierexamined with four new presidents and two imprisoned.
In contrast, in the US, Former President Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon for crimes related to the Watergate investigation, rather than leading the country through the trauma of a trial, though Nixon was never charged. Investigations into Trump, who denied wrongdoing, have roiled the country as a Justice Department Special Counsel, Jack Smith, questions his role in the Attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021and have classified documents in Mar-a-Lago.
Alvin Bragg vs Donald Trump: Inside Manhattan DA’s recent legal battle with the former president
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is investigating Trump for paying porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 before the 2016 election. Trump has denied wrongdoing announced that he expects an indictment.
Long prison sentences can be imposed on convicted leaders. Former leaders of Taiwan and Malaysia have been sentenced to 20 years or more 12 years or. Pardons are also possible, with a former South Korean president being sentenced to 22 years and pardoned after five years.
Not every case leads to a conviction. Italy’s ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was acquitted in lawsuits related to sexually-charged “bunga-bunga” parties he threw during his tenure. But he was convicted of tax fraud and did a year of community service.
Because of this, some world leaders have been accused of:
Israel
Ehud Olmert, who was Prime Minister from 2006 to 2009, was found guilty in 2014 of accepting bribes to promote real estate projects in Jerusalem and obstructing justice during his previous tenure as mayor and minister of commerce. He was sentenced to 27 months in prison but was paroled early.
Moshe Katsav, who was president from 2000 to 2007, was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2011 for the rape of a former staffer before he became president and for other crimes such as indecent acts and obstruction of justice after he took office. He was released after five years.
Netanyahu is on trial for corruption despite running the country. He is accused of embezzlement and bribes, but denies any wrongdoing. He is accused of showing official favors to wealthy businessmen in exchange for gifts, according to the New York Times. As the process goes on, its The proposal to overhaul the judicial system sparked widespread protests.
South Korea
Former President Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide in May 2009 according to the New York Times faced with allegations of corruption. He had admitted that a businessman gave his relatives $6 million during his tenure from 2003 to 2008, but denied the payments were bribes.
Lee Myung-bak, who was President from 2008 to 2013, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for corruption crimes. The former CEO had been convicted of taking bribes from companies like Samsung, embezzling funds from a company he owns and other crimes during his presidency. Current President Yoon Suk-yeol pardoned him in December.
Park Geun-hye, who served as President from 2013 to 2017He was sentenced to 22 years in prison for bribery and other offences. Her successor, Moon Jae-in, who served from 2017 to 2022, pardoned her in 2021 after about five years.
Moon’s successor, Yoon Suk-yeol, was called for its inquest last July for refusing to take in two defectors from North Korea.
France
Pakistan
Imran Khan, who was Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022was ousted in a no-confidence vote, according to the BBC. He was charged under an anti-terrorism law in August. charged with making threats against state officials. His arrest came after he accused the police and judiciary of torturing a close associate.
Taiwan
Chen Shui-bian, who served as President from 2000 to 2008He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for corruption offenses during his tenure, according to the BBC. He was convicted in 2009 of embezzling government funds, forgery and money laundering.
Malaysia
Najib Razak, who was Prime Minister from 2009 to 2018was acquitted on March 23 in a trial of manipulating an audit in the multi-billion dollar looting of state fund 1Malaysian Development Berhad. But he was arrested in August for a 12-year term after losing the last appeal over other corruption allegations related to the fund.
Italy
Silvio Berlusconi, who was Prime Minister for nine years from 1994 to 2011He was acquitted in February of witness tampering in a trial related to the sexually charged “bunga-bunga” parties he threw during his tenure. The trial was the third in a scandal that included charges in 2010 – when he was acting prime minister – of paying for sex with an underage girl. He was acquitted.
But Berlusconi was convicted of tax evasion in 2013 at his TV company Mediaset and the Senate expelled him from Parliament, according to Reuters.
Contribution: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: These countries routinely charge executives; Trump could be the first in the US
Source : news.yahoo.com