Former President Donald Trump joins a growing list of world leaders convicted after leaving office, with many critics in the U.S. claiming that such measures hurt the country’s image as a global leader. 

A New York City court found Trump guilty of falsifying business documents related to payments made to Michael Cohen, who had paid porn actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. World leaders largely offered restrained comment on the verdict, but some of Trump’s closest allies criticized the decision and urged him to “keep fighting.” 

Many have argued that the former president was targeted for political reasons, citing the fact that other cases were opened against him around the same time – though the other three cases, such as the Georgia trial, were delayed – as well as Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg campaigning on his promise to go after Trump. 

Trump insisted that his trial, which included a gag order preventing him from discussing the case, occurred to keep him out of the upcoming election because Democrats “can’t win at the ballot box.” Biden, meanwhile, has blasted any efforts to undermine the decision as “reckless” and “irresponsible” while quipping that he had “no idea I was that powerful” in response to claims he had orchestrated the trial.

TRUMP’S GUILTY VERDICT REVEALS SPLIT AMONG FORMER GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY OPPONENTS

Here are some other countries where opposition leaders or candidates have faced prosecution, sometimes even ahead of elections. 

RUSSIA

No case in modern politics of opposition suppression stands as notorious as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing saga to keep his chief political rival Alexei Navalny out of office: Russian courts determined Navalny had violated probationary terms by leaving the country, during which time he suffered an attempt on his life while in Germany.

The Russian court ultimately convicted Navalny on charges of extremism and sentenced him to 19 years in prison, where he ultimately died due to brutal conditions during his confinement. U.S. intelligence officials in April determined that Putin likely did not order Navalny’s death, even if they ultimately hold him responsible for the treatment that led to the politician’s death. 

HONG KONG

Trump’s verdict overshadowed news out of Hong Kong that 14 opposition figures had been convicted of “conspiring to subvert state power,” drawing condemnation from watchdog groups such as Amnesty International, who called the decision “unprecedented” and “the most ruthless illustration yet of how Hong Kong’s National Security Law is weaponized to silence dissent.” 

FORMER VP MIKE PENCE BREAKS SILENCE ON TRUMP’S NYC CONVICTION

Former lawmakers Leung Kwok-hung, Lam Cheuk-ting, Helena Wong and Raymond Chan are among the dozen defendants who could face life in prison when sentenced later this year, ABC News reported. 

Prosecutors went after 47 democracy advocates who took part in an unofficial primary election that would have undermined the government’s authority through a potential constitutional crisis. 

INDIA

Critics have accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using the courts to prevent his main political rival Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the capital Dehli, from running and campaigning for the upcoming elections.

Chief minister of the capital Delhi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal (C) along with candidate Pawan kumar Tinu, addresses during at a roadshow ahead of the last phase of India’s general elections, in Jalandhar on May 27, 2024.  (Shammi Mehra/AFP via Getty Images)

Several leaders of an opposition alliance remain under investigation, and Kejriwal’s party has accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “political conspiracy,” according to Reuters. Kejriwal remains in pre-trial detention while awaiting a decision on his appeal against an arrest for alleged corruption related to Delhi’s liquor policy.  

BIDEN MOCKED FOR ‘DISTURBING’ REACTION TO QUESTIONS ABOUT UNPRECEDENTED TRUMP VERDICT

India’s top court provisionally released Kejriwal from jail so he could campaign for the elections, which he has dramatically claimed will determine whether India “remains a democracy” and accused Modi of targeting rivals with criminal probes. 

BRAZIL 

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won re-election in 2022 after leaving prison due to the country’s Supreme Court nullifying his conviction on money laundering and corruption charges, citing serious biases in the case against him. 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, February 21, 2024.  (REUTERS/Adriano Machado)

Lula, arrested as part of “Operation Car Wash,” allegedly had traded favors with a construction company in exchange for the promise of a beachfront apartment. His arrest and conviction deeply divided Brazil and led to heated legal back-and-forth over the following years. 

VENEZUELA

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has seen a number of his opponents jailed for various crimes, with opposition leader Nelson Pinero of the center-right Encuentro Ciudadano party recently jailed on charges of incitement to hatred, El País reported. 

BIDEN SAYS TRUMP ‘SHOULD’ HAVE OPPORTUNITY TO APPEAL CONVICTION, GRINS AND IGNORES QUESTIONS

The Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) allegedly entered Pinero’s house without a search warrant. Another politician, presidential candidate Delsa Solorzano, denounced the arrest, saying that “Nelson is one more political prisoner of this dictatorship, which has taken 300 citizens to jail for thinking differently.”

Maduro also saw government opponents jailed in 2017 in a strong crackdown against a new government, jailing opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez and veteran politician Antonio Ledezma for planning to flee the country and violating house arrest terms by making political statements to the media, Reuters reported.

CAMBODIA

Kem Sokha, the Cambodian opposition leader, was convicted of treason and sentenced to 27 years in jail. He appealed his charges, which Amnesty International condemned as “baseless” and urged the country’s authorities to “end their ongoing crackdown against opposition groups.” 

“Anyone who dares to speak out against the government is at risk,” Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research Montse Ferrer wrote ahead of the appeal hearing.

“Cambodian authorities must respect, protect, promote and fulfill the human rights of everyone in the country including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and end the increasing restriction of civic space,” he added. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tens of thousands took part in a so called ‘Peace March’ in Budapest on Saturday to show their support for Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian government.

Many of the marchers felt that the stakes in next week’s European Parliament elections (and local elections in Hungary) will be higher than ever.

“The whole world is dancing on a razor’s edge, war could break out at any moment. Everyone must speak up and stand for peace,” said one demonstrator.

Orbán’s supporters marched along the Danube River in Budapest from the city’s iconic Chain Bridge onto Margaret Island, waving flags and signs reading “No War.”

Orbán is the longest serving leader in the European Union, having been in power for the last fourteen years. He has focused his campaign for the European elections on the war in Ukraine.

Critics say his appeals for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine would result in Russia being able to retain territories it has occupied.

In return, Orbán portrays his opponents as warmongers who seek to involve Hungary directly in the conflict.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota law enforcement on Saturday identified the man who they believe fatally shot a Minneapolis officer in what police are calling an ambush.

Minnesota Public Safety Department spokesperson Bonney Bowman named 35-year-old Mustafa Mohamed as the suspected shooter. He was later shot and killed by another responding officer.

Minneapolis officer Jamal Mitchell was responding to a call about a double shooting Thursday when he stopped to help Mohamed, whom he believed was injured, police have said.

Mohamed then shot Mitchell multiple times, killing him, police said. A local coroner identified Osman Said Jimale, 32, as the third man who died in the shooting. Four others were injured.

Aside from the identities of the slain men, few details have emerged since the shooting. Many questions remain, but here are some things to know.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Officers responded to a call of a double shooting at an apartment complex in the south Minneapolis neighborhood of Whittier.

As Mitchell was about two blocks from the complex, he noticed individuals who were injured. He got out of his car to provide aid to Mohamed, who then shot the officer, according to police.

“I’ve seen the video, and he was ambushed,” Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said at a Thursday news conference. “I’m using the term for a reason.”

Another officer arrived and exchanged gunfire with Mohamed, who died despite life-saving efforts on the part of officers, Minneapolis Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell said.

That officer had non-life-threatening wounds. Another person, believed to be an innocent bystander, was shot and taken to a hospital in critical condition, Evans said.

When other officers went to the apartment, they found two people inside who had been shot. One was dead and the other was hospitalized in critical condition, Evans said.

WHO WAS KILLED?

Police so far have provided little information about the suspected shooter, Mohamed, and the other man who died, Jimale.

Mitchell was a father who was engaged to be married. He had been with the department for only about 18 months.

The Minneapolis Police Department posted on Facebook last year that Mitchell and another officer had rescued an elderly couple from a house fire.

On Feb. 7, 2023, Mitchell’s third day on the job, he and officer Zachery Randall responded to a call and found a house on fire, the post said. The officers ran inside and got the couple out before the home was fully engulfed in flames and destroyed.

“I told him, ‘You’re one of the good guys, Jamal,’” close friend Allison Seed told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “They really needed him.”

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Exactly what led up to the shooting and the shooter’s motivations are still unknown.

Evans said he believed the shooting was isolated to the two locations and that the people in the apartment “had some level of acquaintance with each other.”

The connection between the two shooting scenes wasn’t immediately clear. Police had said the public was not in any danger.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has said authorities are still investigating and asked people to “be patient with us as we do not know all of the facts yet. We want to make sure that the investigation is completed and we’re doing it the right way.”