From Netanyahu to “Bunga Ruby”: Criminal cases against state leaders compared to Trump

There is something historic going on in the US: never before has a former president been indicted, let alone one who, like Donald Trump, wants to run for president again.

The trial could be a stress test for democracy in the United States. Elsewhere, criminal cases against sitting presidents are less new, even if they test the political system there or elsewhere. Three cases, one of which is strikingly reminiscent of Trump’s hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

Putin: Arrest warrant for war crimes, but will there ever be an arrest let alone a conviction?

The case of Russian President Vladimir Putin is very topical. In mid-March, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin. Together with an assistant who was also arrested, he is accused of kidnapping children from the war zone in Ukraine.

It is the first trial by the War Crimes Tribunal that resulted in an arrest warrant against Putin in connection with his war of aggression in Ukraine. More could follow. If he travels abroad, Putin risks being arrested. Each Member State of the Hague Criminal Court is obliged to do so, including Switzerland.

However, the example of South Africa – Putin could travel there in a few months – shows how unreliable the states involved are when it comes to arresting declared war criminals. Given a visit by the then Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir a few years ago, which had no consequences, the question is more than whether Putin really has to fear arrest in South Africa.

Netanyahu: Accused of corruption, but can Israeli prime minister save his skin with controversial judicial reform?

No less topical and associated with much explosive violence in Israel and the Middle East: the judicial reform, against which thousands of angry Israelis have been mobilizing for weeks and which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently had to suspend. It is directly related to a lawsuit against the Prime Minister.

Critics fear that shrinking the Supreme Court will harm democracy. There is even a warning of an autocratically led theocracy in which the rights of minorities such as homosexuals would be trampled underfoot.

So far, Netanyahu is actually considered an advocate of the rule of law. The fact that he now wants to damage this because he has to make concessions to his extreme right-wing coalition partners has less to do with a turnaround, but more with a very personal problem. Netanyahu is accused of corruption. He has little to fear as prime minister, but under the current law there is a risk of impeachment proceedings. Judicial reform makes such procedures very difficult.

Forced by the mass protests and capital outflows from the country, Netanyahu put reform on hold. At the same time, he made it clear that he wants to continue the judicial reform, protest or not.

Berlusconi: Do many court cases, countless sex scandals and convictions mean the end of an unprecedented political career?

He likes to be in the spotlight, to be seduced by young beauties and to organize outrageous parties, not to say sex orgies (keyword «bunga-bunga»): in the history of the politicians who have made a name for themselves in recent years, no one does that Thinking Donald Trump like the Italian media entrepreneur, football boss and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

That also has to do with his sexual affairs, in particular the Rubygate scandal is reminiscent of Trump’s relationship with porn actress Stormy Daniels in the US. As a reminder: Because of his relationship with Ruby Rubacuore, who was still a minor at the time, Berlusconi was convicted at first instance in Italy in 2013 for abuse of office and promotion of prostitution by minors. The verdict was later revised and Berlusconi was acquitted.

Berlusconi is not yet out of the procedure for the “Bunga-Bunga” parties, ie sex with minors, but recently there was another acquittal.

Unlike the politicians mentioned above, Berlusconi was also legally convicted. It concerned economic crimes, such as fraud related to an improvement in his Mediaset group.

Berlusconi’s resilience is legendary, he has recovered from many a scandal. But the many lawsuits and the conviction were too much even for the Italians, who let their political leaders get away with a lot. After years of exile, the now 86-year-old Berlusconi is back in politics, but only as a junior partner in the government of 46-year-old Giorgia Meloni. The multi-convicted criminal no longer makes it to the top, but it won’t work completely without him. (aargauerzeitung.ch)