Former world leaders who were prosecuted after leaving office

Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images Donald Trump made history last week as the first former president in U.S. history to be indicted for criminal conduct. Trump is being charged for his alleged role in a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election that was intended to silence her from going public about an affair she claims to have had with the former president a decade ago.  The indictment is such a rarity not because there was a virtue-driven absence of any wrongdoing spanning 45 presidencies, but because a certain degree of impunity has kept the executive branch focused on its constitutional responsibilities. Equally as important, that impunity prevents criminal indictment from being used as a political weapon.  The constitution doesn’t have specific language around the indictment of sitting or former presidents. Without a legal precedent established by the Supreme Court, it remains a matter of discretion according to the U.S. Department of Justice. An internal DOJ memo written in 1973 and subsequently reviewed and upheld by the Office of Legal Counsel stated that an indictment, and all that comes with it, would undermine the ability of the executive branch to perform its duties. Therefore, the department’s official position has been that sitting presidents are immune from prosecution.  However, the idea of post-term indictments is more widely accepted provided that the conduct in question occurred in a personal capacity. Even so, no former president had been formally indicted until now. Gerald Ford granted Richard Nixon a full unconditional pardon for his role in the Watergate scandal, preventing Congress from pursuing charges of obstruction of justice. While Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives for lying under oath and obstructing justice, he was ultimately acquitted by the Senate–and was never indicted after office.  In recent years, democracies around the world have been cracking down on the corruption of past presidents in an effort to hold them accountable. And while this may be the purest form of protecting democratic ideals and values, it has the potential to do more harm than good. In young democracies, such prosecution can lead to political division and instability. In the ultimate political quandary for new and old democracies alike, letting a corrupt leader walk free is sometimes for the greater good if it allows democracy to gain a foothold.  With former President Donald Trump now facing charges in one case, as well as investigations into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and the discovery of more than a dozen boxes of White House records at his Mar-a-Lago residence, Stacker referenced news coverage and legal documents to compile a list of former world leaders who were prosecuted after leaving office and the ramifications that had on their countries.  You may also like: 25 facts about Mexican history and culture. Jeanine Áñez, Bolivia (2021) AIZAR RALDES // Getty Images Jeanine Áñez became Bolivia’s interim president during the country’s political crisis in 2019. Leading up to that year’s general election, Bolivia’s Supreme Court eliminated term limits for public officials. As a result, incumbent presidential candidate Evo Morales ran for a fourth term as president and won. When evidence of election fraud surfaced, suggesting Morales rigged the vote in his favor, a slew of top-ranking government officials resigned, including Morales himself. Áñez, who was president of the Senate at the time, assumed the presidency as the next in succession. With protests raging throughout Bolivia in the wake of political turmoil, Áñez signed a decree giving impunity to armed forces tasked with regaining order as long as their actions were necessary or in self-defense. Dozens of mostly working-class and Indigenous civilians died in the clashes. In 2021, Áñez was arrested and charged with leading a coup against Morales in 2019. In June 2022, she was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Áñez is facing additional charges related to sedition and genocide. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel (2019) YONATAN SINDEL // Getty Images Benjamin Netanyahu is once again the prime minister of Israel after winning his bid for reelection in November 2022, despite ongoing criminal proceedings. He previously served as Israel’s prime minister from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021 after a brief retirement from politics. In 2019, Israel’s attorney general recommended that Netanyahu be indicted on charges of fraud, bribery, and breach of trust outlined across three cases known as cases 1000, 2000, and 4000. He was officially indicted in 2019.  Case 1000 includes allegations of the Netanyahu family receiving gifts in exchange for political favors for wealthy allies. Case 2000 alleges that Netanyahu benefited from a proposed deal with Arnon Mozes, owner of Israel’s largest newspaper. The deal involved Netanyahu passing legislation to weaken Mozes’ competitors in exchange for positive coverage of the prime minister.  Case 4000, the most serious of them all, accuses Netanyahu of using his position as communications minister to promote the business interests of Shaul Elovitch, a controlling shareholder of Bezeq, Israel’s largest telecommunications company. In return, Netanyahu gained editorial control over Walla, a news site owned by Elovitch. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Mauritania (2021)