World politicians contested polls while serving jail terms

LAHORE: The world has seen innumerable politicians over the years who have managed to win elections while they were either languishing behind bars for actually committing serious felonies or were simply alleged by foes for being involved in crimes ranging from corruption to murder and from kidnappings to sedition etc, research conducted by the “Jang Group and Geo Television Network” reveals.

Here follow a few examples in this context: Former Pakistan President, Asif Zardari, was elected to the Senate in 1997 while in a Karachi jail. In December 1997, he was flown to Islamabad under tight security to take his oath.

In July 1998, he was indicted for corruption in Pakistan after the Swiss government handed over documents to Pakistani authorities relating to money-laundering.

Although incarcerated, Zardari had also nominally served in the parliament after being elected to the National Assembly in 1990.

He was released from jail in 2004 and had opted to go into self-exile. In August 2016, Muttahida Qaumi Movement's Waseem Akhtar was elected Karachi's mayor from jail.

He was brought under heavy police escort to cast his vote. Waseem had claimed all cases against him were politically motivated and there was no evidence against him.

He was in prison since July 19, 2016 after an Anti-Terrorism Court had dismissed his pre-arrest interim application in the terrorists’ treatment case.

In June 2016, an arrested Romanian Mayor, Catalin Chereches, had won another mandate with a 70 per cent majority.

Chereches was arrested in April 2016 on bribery charges, and was incarcerated. Another Romanian Mayor, Lia Vasilescu, had also managed to triumph yet again with some 70 per cent of the votes. She was also held by the anticorruption prosecutors, in March 2016 under bribery charges, and then placed under house arrest.

In United States, a Chicago councilman, Robert Battle, was sworn into office for a second term. The venue of election was the county jail, and not the City Hall. The man who supervised the ballot exercise was a government official, and not the Mayor of Chicago!

According to the “Chicago Tribune,” the councilman was behind bars on multiple felony charges. A Virginia legislator, Joseph Morrissey, successfully ran his election campaign for the state House of Delegates while in jail during January 2015.

He was serving a sentence for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. According to news agency “Reuters,” Joseph had captured 42.3 percent of the vote. A perennial US presidential candidate, Lyndon LaRouche, ran his 1992 campaign from prison, as did a Socialist Party leader and eminent industrial union worker, Eugene Debs in 1920.

While LaRouche was a presidential candidate in each election from 1976 to 2004 (running once for his own US Labour Party and seven times for the Democratic Party nomination), Eugene Debs ran as a Socialist candidate for US Presidency five times, including 1900, 1904, 1908, 1912 and 1920.

As far as LaRouche is concerned, he was sentenced in January 1989 to 15 years in prison for scheming to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and deliberately defaulting on more than $30 million in loans from his supporters. (Reference: The New York Times)

On the other hand, Eugene Debs was noted for his oratory, and his speech denouncing American participation in World War I led to his second arrest in 1918. He was convicted under the Sedition Act and sentenced to a term of 10 years. American President Warren Harding had commuted his sentence in December 1921. (References: The Indiana Magazine of History and the New York Times)

History shows that in 1978, a Vermont State Congressman, Matthew Lyon, had won a re-election while serving a four-month jail term for violating the Sedition Act. Lyon had made his way to Washington upon his release, and had eventually cast the deciding vote in the House of Representatives that gave the Presidency to Thomas Jefferson in 1800

In 19th Century, another American politician, Joseph Barker, was elected Mayor of Pittsburgh while serving a yearlong sentence for inciting a riot. An American media house had stated: “The severity of Barker's sentence scandalized the city, and he quickly became a popular candidate for mayor. Fortunately for Barker, he didn't have to govern from behind bars: The night of the election, a mob of his supporters stormed the city jail and threatened the sheriff until he ensured Barker's immediate release. It soon became apparent to Pittsburghers that they'd elected a paranoid crackpot, however, and Barker was turned out in the next election.”

Yet another American politician, James Michael Curley, had won a seat in 1904 while serving time for impersonating a friend and taking the civil-service exam. Then in 1947, in the middle of his final term as Boston's mayor, he was convicted of mail fraud. When he went to jail, he refused to relinquish the mayor's office. Curley had served just five months before President Harry Truman pardoned him.

President Truman was then busy responding in large part to a petition listing the names of over 100,000 Boston residents. In India, during November 2013, the Supreme Court had dismissed Centre's plea seeking review of its judgment debarring arrested persons from contesting polls, saying it was not necessary to look into the issue in view of amendment in law by Parliament.

The Press Trust of India and the “NDTV” had reported: “The apex court, however, said that the issue of constitutional validity of the amendment will be considered separately after an NGO Lok Prahri opposed Centre's petition and said it has challenged the amendment in Representation of People Act in this regard.”

In 2017, the “Economist” had viewed: “The penchant for criminality is an electoral asset in India, the world’s biggest democracy.”

A Bihar-based politician, Mohammed Shahabuddin, was re-elected in 2004 and even allowed to go to Delhi to be sworn in as an MP.

The four-term legislator has over 40 criminal cases against him and has serving a life sentence for murder.

In September 2016, he had walked out today after 11 years in jail. He was granted bail in a murder case.

In October 2016, he was sent back to jail by the Indian Supreme Court.

The “Indian Express” had reported: “The Supreme Court has directed the Bihar government to take him into custody immediately. A bench of Justice P C Ghose and Justice Amitava Roy set aside the bail order passed by the Patna High Court on September 7, and held that “the High Court was not justified in granting bail” to the gangster-turned politician.

Another criminal Indian politician, who managed to win from jail, was Kameshwar Baitha.

On October 13, 2013, the” New York Times” had stated: “When he decided to run for a parliamentary seat from this impoverished, and mainly low-caste constituency in northeast India, Kameshwar Baitha made no effort to sugarcoat his criminal record. Obediently, he cataloged the serious charges pending against him, all of which he says are false. There were 17 for murder, 22 for attempted murder, 6 for assault with a dangerous weapon, 5 for theft, 2 for extortion, and so on, a legacy from Mr. Baitha’s previous career as a leader of the local Maoist insurgency. On top of that was the fact that he was in jail. But this did not hurt him with voters here, noted his son, Babban Kumar, who hopes to follow his father into politics. With people in this area, who look to elected leaders as Robin Hood figures, it may have helped.”

The American newspaper had revealed: “Nationwide, the number of Indian officeholders facing criminal charges is extraordinary: 30 percent of winners in national and regional elections since 2008, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms, a research group based in New Delhi. The reasons are manifold; as India’s democratic system evolved, candidates depended heavily on thuggish “muscle men,” and later “money men,” to influence voters and sweep them into office. Corruption is widespread.”

Former Bangladeshi President, General Hussain Muhammad Ershad, had successfully contested the general elections of 1991 and 1996 from prison, and was elected to parliament on both occasions.

In 1990, in the face of an intensified pro-democracy movement, he was forced to hand over power to a caretaker administration.

He was arrested with most of his cabinet colleagues soon after he was forced out of power. In 1997, he was released on bail after spending almost six years in prison.

In 2000, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh had ordered him to surrender to the court that convicted him for misappropriating government funds and abuse of power.

Former Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic, who was incarcerated in the Netherlands for war-crimes, had won a seat in Serbia-Montenegro's parliament in December 2003. However, his Socialist Party decided not to assign him a seat as the parliament's rules stipulated that members must be able to physically attend the first session.

Several Republicans from Northern Ireland have also won seats in British Parliament despite being imprisoned.

One of these jailbirds was noted hunger-striker Bobby Sands. 

However, all these Irish politicians had refused to actually take their seats because they believe the body had no legal authority over Northern Ireland. In December 2004, Marwan Barghouti had decided to run for the Presidency of the Palestinian Authority, even though he was serving five life sentences for murder. The popular Fatah leader was contesting against a more moderate Mahmoud Abbas.