List of former heads of democratic countries charged with crimes

Every dollar that a corrupt official or a corrupt business person puts in their pocket is a dollar stolen from a pregnant woman who needs health care; or from a girl or a boy who deserves an education; or from communities that need water, roads, and schools.

It is not unprecedented for former democratically-elected national leaders to be charged and even convicted of crimes. In democracies, and even flawed democracies, this can be a good thing because it assures that two of the fundamental tenets of democracy — 1) rule of law and 2) transparency and accountability — applies to all citizens, not just the masses. This is not the case in authoritarian or semi-authoritarian countries where the rule of law is inconsistently applied and where politically-motivated criminal investigations are more likely. Democracies generally give some level of protection to heads of state and/or legislators while they are still in office to reduce the likelihood of politically-motivated investigations.

Argentina
Former president and current vice president of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was found guilty of fraud during her tenure as president by a three-judge panel. The verdict is likely to be appealed, and Kirchner has immunity from imprisonment while she holds the positions of vice president and senator.

Brazil
Former president Fernando Collor de Mello, who was impeached in 1992 due to a corruption scandal. He was later acquitted by the Brazilian Supreme Court.

After former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was convicted of corruption in 2017, the Brazilian Supreme Court overturned his conviction, ruling that the presiding judge had been biased.

In 2023, former president Jair Bolsonaro was charged with abusing his power while in office.

France
Former French president Jacques Chirac was convicted in 2011 of embezzling public funds and given a suspended sentence.

Former president of France Nicolas Sarkozy's Paris mansion was raided by police in 2012 to gather evidence. Sarkozy was eventually convicted of corruption and influence peddling in 2021.

Israel
Former prime minister Ehud Olmert was convicted of accepting bribes and obstructing justice for his activities during his term of mayor of Jerusalem.

As of 2022, at-the-time former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was charged with corruption and his trial is ongoing.

Italy
Former prime minister Giulio Andreotti in 1979 was sentenced to 24 years imprisonment for ordering the murder of a journalist, but was later acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2003.

Billionaire and former prime minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, faced numerous criminal charges over the years; he was convicted of tax fraud and of paying for sex with an underage prostitute. He was banned from holding public office until 2019 but managed to be €l€cted to the European Parliament in 2019.

Malaysia
Former prime minister Najib Razak was convicted of a massive theft (about US$4.5 billion) of from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund (1MDB), and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Ironically, under Razak's tenure, 1MDB was even used to illegally produce the Hollywood film Wolf of Wall Street about the excesses and criminality of stock market traders.

Peru
Following extradition from Chile, in 2007, former President Alberto Fujimori was convicted and sentenced to 25-years imprisonment for crimes against humanity in 2009.

In October 2022, "prosecutors filed a 376-page criminal complaint against" President Pedro Castillo, charging him with corruption; he was not arrested at that time due to his immunity from prosecution. In December 2022, Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress but instead Congress impeached him from office in a 101 to 6 vote, thus removing his immunity. Castillo was then swiftly arrested based on the October charges.

Stupidity doesn’t have an ideology. It doesn’t belong exclusively to the left or the right. Castillo’s address was completely disconnected from reality.

Portugal
On 2014, former Prime Minister José Sócrates was arrested in Lisbon, accused of corruption, tax evasion, and money laundering, becoming the country's first Prime Minister thus accused. A few days later he was officially charged with corruption and tax fraud. In 2021 however, a Portuguese judge dropped the corruption charges against Sócrates, still upholding lesser charges of money laundering and falsifying documents.

South Africa
South Africa's former president, Jacob Zuma, was sentenced to prison in 2021 for defying a court order to appear before a commission investigating his possible corruption.

South Korea
In 2018, former president Lee Myung-bak was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for embezzlement and bribery.

Also in 2018, former president Park Geun-hye was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for accepting bribes. Park was pardoned in 2021.

In 2018, half of all living South Korean presidents were in prison, meaning that only one living former president (Chun Doo-hwan) was not in prison.

Taiwan
In 2009, former president Chen Shui-bian was convicted of embezzlement and receiving bribes. He received a life sentence that was commuted to 20 years, but was released on medical parole in 2015.

Thailand
Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra ("Tony Woodsome" ) led the country during a period (2001-2006) when the country was not regarded as democratic, but was charged with and convicted (along with his wife and adopted brother) of corruption in 2008 when the country was regarded as a flawed democracy. Despite his conviction, Thaksin managed to flee Thailand and so far has managed to escape justice, reportedly obtaining passports from multiple countries and even obtaining diplomat status from Nicaragua.

Another of Thaksin's relatives, his daughter, is a likely contender to become prime minister in 2023, which would make her a 'nepotism president'.

United States
But the Republican pearl-clutching over the current administration replicating the habits of autocratic regime elsewhere ignores the obvious counterexample — that it is normal for healthy democracies to investigate, convict and sometimes imprison their former leaders. Indeed, the principle that no one is above the law is a fundamental cornerstone of all democracies. Following the court-ordered FBI raid of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago (MAL) resort in 2022 to seize purloined government documents, and contrary to the above examples, several prominent Republicans raised the specter of the raid being somehow a deviation from democracy. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis claimed that it was a "weaponization of federal agencies", alluded to a deep state ("the Regime"), and that it was undemocratic ("Banana Republic"). Florida Senator Marco Rubio likened the raid to those of "3rd world Marxist dictatorships", and similarly, the House Judiciary GOP said tweeted, "This is what happens in third world countries." Conservative talk radio host Buck Sexton even turned the issue on its head, stating "They are sending a message now to President Trump and to his supporters that THEY WILL COME FOR YOU if you stand against the machine." In other words, if FBI can investigate a former president for theft of government property — hey, they might do that to you too!

A New York City grand jury indicted Trump in 2023 for paying hush money to a porn star using campaign funds. Other indictments are likely coming forth.

In 2023, Trump was indicted with 37 felony charges: conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a classified document, concealing a classified document and scheming to conceal a classified document.