View source for Political prisoner

{{Short description|Someone imprisoned for their political activity}}
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A '''political prisoner''' is someone [[imprisoned]] for their [[politics|political activity]]. The [[political offense]] is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.

There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although numerous similar definitions have been proposed by various organizations and scholars, and there is a general consensus among scholars that "individuals have been sanctioned by legal systems and imprisoned by political regimes not for their violation of codified laws but for their thoughts and ideas that have fundamentally challenged existing power relations".<ref name=":2" /> The status of a political prisoner is generally awarded to individuals based on the declarations of [[non-governmental organization]]s like [[Amnesty International]], on a case-by-case basis. While such statuses are often widely recognized by the [[Public opinion|international public]], they are often rejected by individual governments accused of holding political prisoners, which tend to deny any bias in their [[Judiciary|judicial systems]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" />

A related term is [[prisoner of conscience]] (POC), popularized by Amnesty International. It describes someone who was prosecuted because of their personal beliefs.

Some prisons, known as political prisons, are accustomed to or are designed solely for hosting political prisoners.<ref name=":0" />

==Definitions==
The concept of a political prisoner, like many concepts in social sciences, sports numerous definitions, and is undefined in [[international law]] and [[human right]] treaties.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal|last=Steinert|first=Christoph Valentin|date=2021|title=Who Is a Political Prisoner?|journal=Journal of Global Security Studies|volume=6|issue=3|article-number=ogaa052 |doi=10.1093/jogss/ogaa052|issn=2057-3170|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite book|last1=Greene|first1=Helen Taylor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v_9yAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Political+prisoner%22|title=Encyclopedia of Race and Crime|last2=Gabbidon|first2=Shaun L.|date=14 April 2009|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4522-6609-1|pages=636–639|chapter=Political Prisoners}}</ref> Helen Taylor Greene and [[Shaun L. Gabbidon]] in 2009 that "standard legal definitions have remained elusive", but at the same time, observing that there is a general consensus that "individuals have been sanctioned by legal systems and imprisoned by political regimes not for their violation of codified laws but for their thoughts and ideas that have fundamentally challenged existing power relations".<ref name=":2" />

A number of organizations involved in human rights issues, as well as scholars studying them, have developed their own definitions,<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> some of which are presented below.

===Organizations===
====Amnesty International====
[[Amnesty International]] (AI) campaigns for the release of prisoners of conscience, which include both political prisoners as well as those imprisoned for their religious or philosophical beliefs. To reduce controversy, and as a matter of principle, the organization's policy applies only to prisoners who have not committed or advocated violence. Thus, there are political prisoners who do not fit the narrower criteria for POCs.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> The organisation defines the differences as follows:<ref>[http://www.amnesty-volunteer.org/aihandbook/ch3.html#Politicalprisoners "AI's FOCUS"]. Amnesty International. Retrieved 5 April 2012.</ref>
<blockquote>
AI uses the term "political prisoner" broadly. It does not use it, as some others do, to imply that all such prisoners have a special status or should be released. It uses the term only to define a category of prisoners for whom AI demands a fair and prompt trial.

In AI's usage, the term includes any prisoner whose case contains a significant political element, in regard to the motivation of the prisoner's acts, the acts themselves, or the motivation of the authorities.

"Political" is used by AI to refer to aspects of human relations related to "politics": the mechanisms of society and civil order, the principles, organization, or conduct of government or public affairs, and the relation of all these to questions of language, ethnic origin, sex or religion, status, or influence (among other factors).

The category of political prisoners embraces the category of [[Prisoner of conscience|prisoners of conscience]], the only prisoners who AI demands should be immediately and unconditionally released, as well as people who resort to criminal violence for a political motive.

In AI's use of the term, here are some examples of political prisoners:
* a person accused or convicted of an ordinary crime carried out for political motives, such as murder or robbery carried out to support the objectives of an opposition group;
* a person accused or convicted of an ordinary crime committed in a political context, such as at a demonstration by a trade union or a peasants' organization;
* a member or suspected member of an armed opposition group who has been charged with treason or "subversion".

Governments often say they have no political prisoners, only prisoners held under the normal criminal law. AI however describes cases like the examples given above as "political" and uses the terms "political trial" and "political imprisonment" when referring to them. But by doing so, AI does not oppose the imprisonment, except where it further maintains that the prisoner is a prisoner of conscience, or condemn the trial, except where it concludes that it was unfair.
</blockquote>

====Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe====
The [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]] has the following definition:
<blockquote>
A person deprived of their personal liberty is to be regarded as a 'political prisoner':
{{ordered list|type=lower-alpha
|if the detention has been imposed in violation of one of the fundamental guarantees set out in the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] and its Protocols, in particular [[freedom of thought]], conscience and [[freedom of religion|religion]], [[freedom of expression]] and [[freedom of information|information]], [[freedom of assembly]] and [[Freedom of association|association]];
|if the detention has been imposed for purely political reasons without connection to any offence;
|if, for political motives, the length of the detention or its conditions are clearly out of proportion to the offence the person has been found guilty of or is suspected of;
|if, for political motives, he or she is detained in a discriminatory manner as compared to other persons; or,
|if the detention is the result of proceedings which were clearly unfair and this appears to be connected with political motives of the authorities.<ref>{{cite web|title = The definition of political prisoner|url = http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-DocDetails-EN.asp?fileid=19150&lang=EN|access-date = 2015-11-23|date = 3 October 2012|publisher = Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe}}</ref>
}}
</blockquote>

====Assistance Association for Political Prisoners====
[[Burma|Burmese]] [[Assistance Association for Political Prisoners]] defines a political prisoner as "anyone who is arrested because of [their] perceived or real involvement in or supporting role in opposition movements with peaceful or resistance means".<ref name=AAAP>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfordburmaalliance.org/uploads/9/1/8/4/9184764/the_recognition_of_political_prisoners_essential_to_democratic_and_national_reconciliation_process.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921114726/http://www.oxfordburmaalliance.org/uploads/9/1/8/4/9184764/the_recognition_of_political_prisoners_essential_to_democratic_and_national_reconciliation_process.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 September 2018| work=Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) | title=The recognition of political prisoners: essential to democratic and national reconciliation process|date=9 November 2011| access-date=20 August 2012}}</ref>

==== Congressional-Executive Commission on China ====
The US [[Congressional-Executive Commission on China]] defines a political prisoner broadly as any individual who is detained for exercising their "human rights under international law, such as peaceable assembly, freedom of religion, freedom of association, free expression, including the freedom to advocate peaceable social or political change, and to criticize government policy or government officials."<ref name=":2" />

=== Academics ===
==== Steinert (2020) ====
Christoph Valentin Steinert, who in 2020 reviewed 366 definitions of political prisoners used in (mainly English language) academic literature in 1956 and 2019, argued that any definition of political prisoner needs to avoid focusing on prisoners' individual motivations and that the term "should be exclusively reserved for victims of politically biased trials" (in other words, "victims of [[Political repression|state repression]]"), to avoid delegitimizing the term by diluting it with applications to prisoners of any possibly politically motivated action (which on the extreme end of the spectrum would include, for example, [[Ku Klux Klan]]ners, [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazis]], and [[Jihadism|jihadist]] [[Terrorism|terrorists]]). He specifically criticizes definitions of political prisoners as "individuals imprisoned for politically motivated actions" or "committing a political offense". He proposed the following definition:<ref name=":1" />

<blockquote>
Political prisoners are defined as individuals that are convicted and incarcerated in politically biased trials (or executive decisions in the absence of any trials). Trials are deemed politically biased if they are endorsed by the government and (a) lack a domestic legal basis, (b) violate principles of procedural justice, or (c) violate universal human rights.<ref name=":1" />
</blockquote>

Steinert noted that his definition does extend to prisoners "imprisoned for nonpolitical identities such as their religious beliefs or their sexual orientations", as well as individuals engaged in violent actions, arguing that the neutral "classification as a political prisoner neither entails an a priori judgment about the moral legitimacy of prisoners' actions nor does it imply that individuals committed politically motivated crimes".<ref name=":1" />

===Other aspects===
The purpose of political prisons and of imprisoning dissidents is to demonstrate the strength of the regime to the dissidents. The regime's opponents are isolated, and stigmatised, frequently abused, and tortured. The goal of such treatment is not just to punish those opposing the regime, but to frighten those who consider opposing the regime by demonstrating the power of the regime by sending a clear warning that objecting is not tolerated, and that the regime is well prepared and ready to punish the objectors through the creation of [[total institution]]s dedicated to hosting political prisoners.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />

The status of a political prisoner is conveyed to one only after their detention. Before that, potential political prisoners may be referred to as "[[Dissident|dissidents]], [[Revolutionary|revolutionaries]], [[Reformism (historical)|social reformers]], or radical thinkers". The nature of the behavior that leads to political imprisonment is hard to define and can be roughly described as any "activity deemed questionable by ruling [[elite]]s".<ref name=":2" /> Therefore, political prisoners may be officially detained and sentenced for a multitude of different transgressions, rather than a single well-defined crime.<ref name=":2" /> Political prisoners are frequently arrested and tried with a veneer of [[legal process|legality]] where false [[Criminal law|criminal]] [[indictment|charges]], [[Falsified evidence|manufactured evidence]], and unfair trials ([[kangaroo court]]s, [[show trial]]s) are used to disguise the fact that an individual is a political prisoner.<ref name=":1" /> For example, AAPP states that "the motivation behind the arrest of every individual in AAPP's database is political, regardless of the laws they have been sentenced under".<ref name="AAAP" /> This is common in situations which may otherwise be decried nationally and internationally as a [[human rights]] violation or suppression of a [[political dissident]]. Steinert notes that "objective evidence about politically biased imprisonments is chronically sparse considering that governments face substantial incentives to hide repressive practices".<ref name=":1" /> As a rule, governments deny imprisoning individuals for their political activities.<ref name=":2" />
[[File:Turkish journalists protesting imprisonment of their colleagues in 2016.jpg|thumb|Turkish journalists protesting imprisonment of their colleagues on [[Human Rights Day]], 10 December 2016]]
A political prisoner can also be someone who has been denied [[bail]] unfairly, denied [[parole]] when it would reasonably have been given to a prisoner charged with a comparable crime, or special powers may be invoked by the judiciary. Particularly in this latter situation, whether an individual is regarded as a political prisoner may depend upon the subjective political perspective or interpretation of the evidence.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} Political prisoners can also be imprisoned with no legal veneer by [[Extrajudicial punishment|extrajudicial processes]]{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} or even through executive decisions in the absence of any trials or [[Criminal charge|charges]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /> Some political prisoners need not be imprisoned at all, as they can be subject to prolonged pre-trial [[Detention (imprisonment)|detainment]] instead. Steinert noted that technically, political detainees should be distinguished from political prisoners, but they are often grouped together, and in practical terms, he recommends treating them as ''special types'' of political prisoners.<ref name=":1" /> Examples of such detainees can include individuals such as the former [[Nobel Peace Prize]] Laureate [[Aung San Suu Kyi]], detained for many years without a trial.<ref name=":1" /> Likewise, supporters of Tibetan spiritual leader [[Gedhun Choekyi Nyima]] in the [[11th Panchen Lama controversy]] have called him a "political prisoner", despite the fact that he is not accused of a political offense. He is held under secluded [[house arrest]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4551425.stm | work=BBC News | title=Tibet's missing spiritual guide | date=16 May 2005 | access-date=3 May 2010}}</ref>

Political prisoners may become the subjects of international advocacy and receive aid from various non-governmental organizations.<ref name=":1" /> Criticism from the international public opinion has been shown to facilitate the release of political detainees, or reduce their sentences, but is less effective in securing the release of already-sentenced individuals.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gruffydd-Jones|first=Jamie J|date=4 March 2021|title=International Attention and the Treatment of Political Prisoners|journal=International Studies Quarterly|volume=65|issue=4|pages=999–1011|doi=10.1093/isq/sqab017|issn=0020-8833|doi-access=free}}</ref> When the status of political prisoner is well known, it can be seen as a form of [[status symbol]]. Some political prisoners purposefully frame themselves as "the imprisoned martyrs and leaders of their movement." Which can safeguard their well-being in prison.<ref name=":0" />

== History ==
[[Ancient Greek]] philosopher [[Socrates]] has been described as perhaps the earliest known political prisoner; imprisoned for allegedly "poisoning" the minds of Grecian youth through his critique of Athenian society and its rulers.<ref name=":2" /> Early Christians, including [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]], and [[Saint Peter|St. Peter]], have also been described as such.<ref name=":3">{{cite journal|last=Kenney|first=Padraic|date=October 2012|title="I felt a kind of pleasure in seeing them treat us brutally." The Emergence of the Political Prisoner, 1865–1910|journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History|volume=54|issue=4|pages=863–889|doi=10.1017/S0010417512000448|s2cid=146560115|issn=0010-4175|doi-access=free}}</ref> Another famous historical figure described as a political prisoner is the 15th century French heroine, [[Joan of Arc]], whose final charge of [[heresy]] was seen as a legal justification for her real crime of "inconveniencing the elites".<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Pernoud|first1=Regine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rwNkZ6j0MawC&q=%22Joan+of+Arc%22+%22political+prisoner%22&pg=PR11|title=Joan of Arc: Her Story|last2=Clin|first2=Narue-Veronique|date=15 October 1999|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-312-22730-2|pages=xii, xix, 106, 150}}</ref>

[[Padraic Kenney]] noted that "the emergence of modern political prisoners coincides with a fifty-year period (1860s–1910s) during which [modern] political movements matured around the world", also defining such movements as having "clearly articulated political and social programs" which forced the governments to develop a specific response to such movements (a response which often involved incarceration rather than dialogue, particularly under the less liberal regimes).<ref name=":3" />

In some places, political prisoners had their own customs, traditions, and semi-formal organizations and privileges; historically, this has been more common up to around the [[interwar period]], as the many political prisoners came from higher social classes (in particular, [[nobility]]), and authorities often treated them better than common criminals. This changed with the emergence of the [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]] regimes that were intent on annihilating the opposition.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last=Machcewicz|first=Anna|date=2018|title=Political Prisoners in Poland, 1944–56: The Sources and Strategies of Resistance in the Authoritarian State's Prison System|journal=Acta Poloniae Historica|volume=118|pages=93–126|doi=10.12775/APH.2018.118.04|s2cid=159274432|issn=0001-6829|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":3" />
[[File:Topography of Terror - Gestapo political prisoners.jpg|thumb|Images of political prisoners from the [[Gestapo]] archives, Germany]]
In Poland, the concept and even traditions of political prisoners emerged around the second half of the 19th century in the [[Russian partition]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />

While the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] of 1948 is not legally binding, it is generally recognized as "a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations". Of particular relevance to political prisoners are its Articles 5, 6, 9 and 18. The UDHR and the later [[Helsinki Accords]] of 1975 have been used by a number of nongovernmental organizations as the basis for arguing that some governments are in fact holding political prisoners.<ref name=":2" />

[[Political prisoners in the United States|In the United States]], the term political prisoner has been used during the mid-20th century [[civil rights struggle]] and has been occasionally applied to individuals like [[Rosa Parks]] or [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], and later used for individuals imprisoned for [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|objecting to US involvement in the Vietnam War]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

Political prisoners [[List of memoirs of political prisoners|sometimes write memoirs]] of their experiences and resulting insights. Some of these memoirs have become important political texts. For example, King's "[[Letter from Birmingham Jail|Letter From a Birmingham City Jail]]" has been described as "one of the most important historical documents penned by a modern political prisoner".<ref name=":2" />

== Advocacy ==
A number of [[nongovernmental organizations]] focus on advocacy for political prisoners. The most prominent of those is [[Amnesty International]], founded in 1961.<ref name=":2" />

==Notable political prisoners==
{{excessive examples|section|date=June 2021}}
{{prose|section|date=June 2021}}
===Groups===
* In the [[Soviet Union]], [[Sluggishly progressing schizophrenia|dubious psychiatric diagnoses]] were sometimes used to confine political prisoners in the so-called ''"[[psikhushka]]s"''.
* In [[Nazi Germany]], [[Marxists]] and [[social democrats]] were among the first victims of fascist repression, later groups included the [[Nacht und Nebel|"Night and Fog" prisoners]] and [[priest]]s.<ref>Evans, R. J. (2006). The third Reich in power (Vol. 2). Penguin.</ref>
* In the [[United States]], [[African-American]] activists such as the [[Wilmington Ten]] (which included [[Benjamin Chavis]]), have been wrongfully imprisoned.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/opinion/sunday/pardons-for-the-wilmington-10.html?_r=0|title=Pardons for the Wilmington 10|date=22 December 2012|work=[[The New York Times]] Sunday Review|page=SR10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/28/the_wilmington_10_north_carolina_urged|title=The Wilmington 10: North Carolina Urged to Pardon Civil Rights Activists Falsely Jailed 40 Years Ago|website=Democracy Now!|access-date=21 May 2019}}</ref>
* Approximately 3,600 British and Irish convicts were sent to Australia in the 1700–1800s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moore |first=Tony |date=3 September 2009 |title=Conviction politics: How convicts shaped Australian democracy |url=https://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2019/09/03/1376101?slug=conviction-politics-how-convicts-shaped-australian-democracy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215125504/https://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2019/09/03/1376101?slug=conviction-politics-how-convicts-shaped-australian-democracy |archive-date=15 December 2023 |access-date=15 January 2024 |website=Monash Lens}}</ref>
* According to human rights groups, there are some 60,000 political prisoners in [[Egypt]].<ref>{{cite news |title=No political prisoners freed as Egypt pardons thousands on Eid |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/5/24/no-political-prisoners-freed-as-egypt-pardons-thousands-on-eid |work=Al-Jazeera |date=24 May 2020}}</ref>
* The 15 July 2016 failed coup attempt in [[Turkey]] led to over 77,000 people being [[2016–present purges in Turkey|formally arrested]].<ref>{{cite news |date=25 July 2018 |title=Turkey arrests German for spreading Kurdish propaganda: Anadolu |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-turkey-security/turkey-arrests-german-for-spreading-kurdish-propaganda-anadolu-idUSKBN1KF2ZX |work=Reuters}}</ref>
*Many victims of the [[Cambodian genocide]] have been described as political prisoners.<ref name=":2" />

===Individuals===
[[File:Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton at home of Aung San Suu Kyi.jpg|thumb|[[Nobel Peace Prize]] laureate [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] and her staff at her home in Yangon]]

Due to the lack of a single, internationally recognized legal definition of a political prisoner, nongovernmental organizations like Amnesty International, aided by legal scholars, determine whether prisoners meet their criteria of political prisoners on a case-by-case basis.<ref name=":2" />
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦--->
* [[Álvaro Cunhal|Alváro Barreirinhas Cunhal]], former pro-Soviet leader of the [[Portuguese Communist Party]], he was imprisoned thrice (first in June 1937, then in 1940 and later from 1949 to 1960) for his staunch opposition to [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Portuguese dictatorship]] and for his political beliefs as well as his close ties to Soviet Russia. He famously escaped [[Peniche Fortress]], one of the regime's political prisons, with ten other men on the third of January 1960.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cunha |first=Adelino |title=Álvaro Cunhal: Retrato Pessoal E Íntimo |publisher=Desassossego |year=2020 |isbn=9789898892706 |language=Portuguese}}</ref>
* [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] led the opposition [[National League for Democracy]] which was victorious in the [[1990 Myanmar general election|1990 general election]]. She was imprisoned or under house arrest for 15 out of the 21 years from 1990 to 2010.<ref name="time10">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2024558,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012221344/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2024558,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 October 2010|title=Top 10 Political Prisoners|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]]|date=15 August 2010|access-date=1 January 2011|quote=Full List FREEDOM FIGHTERS: Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela, Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Andrei Sakharov, Vaclav Havel, Akbar Ganji, Benigno Aquino Jr., Ho Chi Minh}}</ref> In 2021, she was imprisoned by the [[Tatmadaw|Myanmar military]] in a [[2021 Myanmar coup d'état|coup d'état]]. As of August 2022, she is being held in solitary confinement serving a 17-year sentence following a series of secret trials.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chen |first1=Heather |last2=Diamond |first2=Cape |title=Former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced to 6 more years in prison |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/15/asia/myanmar-aung-san-suu-kyi-prison-junta-intl-hnk/index.html |access-date=30 August 2022 |agency=CNN |date=16 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Ninoy Aquino]] of the [[Philippines]] was imprisoned during the martial law in the Philippines because of his vocal opposition against then President [[Ferdinand Marcos]].{{fact|date=August 2025}}
* [[Benazir Bhutto]] was a political prisoner for four years under [[General Zia ul Haq]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Pakistan: In the Shadow of Jihad and Afghanistan|author=Weaver, Mary Anne|publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]]|year=2003|page=73|quote=Benazir Bhutto... was under house arrest at the time of her father's death; Zia made her a political prisoner for four years}}</ref>[[File:Ilya Yashin in a paddy wagon 2021-03-13.jpg|thumb|Russian opposition politician [[Ilya Yashin]] was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison under Russia's [[Russian 2022 war censorship laws|war censorship laws]] for his [[Protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine|anti-war]] statements in 2022.]]
* [[Dietrich Bonhoeffer]] was a German pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, accused of being associated with the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.{{fact|date=August 2025}}
* [[Rubin Carter|Rubin "Hurricane" Carter]], African American boxer wrongfully imprisoned for 19 years in the US due to "an appeal to racism rather than reason".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nj.com/sports/2014/04/boxer_rubin_hurricane_carter_dies.html|title='Hurricane' Carter, boxer and NJ native, dies at 76|last=D'Alessandro|first=Dave|date=20 April 2014|website=nj.com|access-date=21 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/21/sports/rubin-hurricane-carter-fearsome-boxer-dies-at-76.html|title=Rubin (Hurricane) Carter, Boxer Found Wrongly Convicted, Dies at 76|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|date=20 April 2014|work=The New York Times|access-date=21 May 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* [[Eugene V. Debs]], leader of the [[Socialist Party of the United States]], was imprisoned by the US government for his opposition to the First World War.{{fact|date=August 2025}}
* [[Mahatma Gandhi]] was imprisoned numerous times by the British both in South Africa and India.{{fact|date=August 2025}}
* [[Emma Goldman]] was imprisoned for two years and then deported by the US government for her opposition to the First World War.<ref name="Gornick2011">{{cite book|author=Vivian Gornick|title=Emma Goldman|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KfVB7x6i5toC|year=2011|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-17761-9}}</ref>
* [[Antonio Gramsci]] was a leftist Italian writer, and political activist who was jailed and spent 8 years in prison. He was released conditionally due to his health situation and died shortly after.<ref>{{cite book|title=Antonio Gramsci: Architect of a New Politics|author=Germino, Dante L.|publisher=[[Louisiana State University Press]]|year=1990|page=23|quote=Gramsci carried with him from his Sardinian upbringing two qualities that were to enable him to stand... his long years as a political prisoner in Benito Mussolini's Italy}}</ref>
* [[Palden Gyatso]], a Tibetan Buddhist monk arrested during the [[annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China]] for protesting, spent 33 years in Chinese prisons and labor camps where he was extensively tortured, serving the longest term of any Tibetan political prisoner.{{fact|date=August 2025}}
* [[Anwar Ibrahim]], a Malaysian opposition party leader, was imprisoned twice because of a [[Anwar Ibrahim sodomy trials|sodomy case]].{{fact|date=August 2025}}
* [[Kim Dae-jung]] served one term (1976–1979) and in 1980 was exiled to the United States, but returned in 1985 and became President of [[South Korea]] in 1998.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE57H0LO20090818|title=Former South Korean leader Kim Dae-jung dies|first=Jack|last=Kim|date=18 August 2009|access-date=1 January 2011|work=Reuters|location=[[Seoul]]|quote=The former political prisoner, once sentenced to death under one of the country's early military rulers whom he relentlessly opposed, was elected South Korea's president in December 1997 on his fourth attempt.}}</ref>
* [[Liliʻuokalani]], Queen of [[Hawaiian Kingdom|Hawaiʻi]] was placed under house arrest at [[ʻIolani Palace]] during the United States-backed [[Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom|overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi]]. Then, once Hawaiʻi was [[Newlands Resolution|annexed]] as a [[Territory of Hawaii|territory]], she was moved to [[Washington Place]].
* [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] was imprisoned several times, most notoriously in Birmingham, Alabama.<ref name=":2" />[[File:Loujain Alhathloul.jpg|thumb|upright|Saudi [[Women's rights in Saudi Arabia|women's rights]] activist and political prisoner [[Loujain al-Hathloul]]]]
* According to [[Amnesty International]], [[Leopoldo López]], a Venezuelan opposition leader, has been a prisoner of conscience.<ref name="AIlopezPRISONER">{{cite press release|title=Faces of Impunity: Leopoldo López|url=http://amnistiaonline.org/Venezuela/Leopoldo_Lopez/|website=[[Amnesty International]]|access-date=24 September 2015}}</ref>
* [[John Maclean (Scottish socialist)|John Maclean]] was imprisoned by the British government for his opposition to the First World War.{{fact|date=August 2025}}
* [[Heinrich Maier]] was a Roman Catholic priest and leader of one of the most important resistance groups against Nazi Germany.{{fact|date=August 2025}}
* [[Nelson Mandela]] was imprisoned from 1963 until 1990 in [[South Africa]] due to his anti-[[apartheid]] activism and organizing attacks on several government targets. He later became the [[President of South Africa]] between 1994 and 1999.<ref name=":2" /><!--Note:Url included for verifiability, because online preview does not give page numbers-->
* [[Thomas Mapfumo]] was imprisoned without charges in 1979 by the [[Rhodesia]]n government in what is now [[Zimbabwe]] for his Shona-language music calling for revolution.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Struggle Continues|magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|quote=The chimurenga of Thomas Mapfumo has made him both a pop star and political prisoner in Zimbabwe|date=February 1990|volume=5|number=11}}</ref>
* [[Carlos Menem]], a former Argentine president who was a political prisoner under the [[National Reorganization Process]].
* [[Antonio Nariño]] (1765–1823) was a Colombian who translated the Declaration des Droits de L'Homme et du Citoyen into Spanish and faced multiple terms in prison under charges of translating censored material.
* [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], political activist, statesman, and first [[Prime Minister of India]] (1948–1963) was imprisoned several times for his nationalist activism against the [[British Raj]], serving a total of over 9 years in incarceration.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jawaharlal-Nehru, "Jawaharlal Nehru Biography" Encyclopedia Britannica]</ref>[[File:Sakharov Prize daughter of 2019 laureate Ilham Tohti receives prize on his behalf (49238839806).jpg|thumb|The daughter of [[Ilham Tohti]], an advocate for China's [[Uyghurs|Uyghur minority]] who is currently serving a life sentence in China, accepted the 2019 [[Sakharov Prize]] for Freedom of Thought on behalf of her imprisoned father.]]
* [[Dilma Rousseff]], a former Brazilian president, was imprisoned by the right-wing military government between 1970 and 1973.
* [[Bertrand Russell]] was imprisoned by the British government for six months for opposing the First World War.<ref name="Pacifist">{{cite book|title=Bertrand Russell and the Pacifists in the First World War|last=Vellacott|first=Jo|isbn=0-85527-454-9|publisher=Harvester Press|location=Brighton|year=1980}}</ref>
* [[Mikis Theodorakis]], a composer and lyricist, was imprisoned several times by Greek governments during the years 1947–1970.
* [[Leonora Christina Ulfeldt]] was imprisoned in [[solitary confinement]] in a royal dungeon for twenty-one years as the wife and later widow of Count [[Corfitz Ulfeldt]].
* [[Ai Weiwei]], is a Chinese artist and political dissident from the People's Republic of China.
* [[Liu Xiaobo]] a Chinese pro-democracy activist, was imprisoned multiple times (from the late 1980s to prior to his death in 2017) in China by the Chinese government.<ref>{{cite web|date=6 July 2017|title=Liu Xiaobo, China's most famous political prisoner, 'close to death'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/06/liu-xiaobo-china-political-prisoner-close-to-death-friends-say|access-date=9 July 2021|website=The Guardian}}</ref>
* [[Hossein Rajabian]] is an Iranian filmmaker, writer and photographer who was imprisoned for 3 years as a political prisoner between 2015 and 2018 on charges related to his filmmaking in [[Evin Prison|Evin prison]] in Iran.
* [[Ales Bialiatski]] is a Belarusian pro-democracy activist and prisoner of conscience known for his work with the [[Viasna Human Rights Centre]]. Bialiatski has been imprisoned twice; firstly from 2011 to 2014, and currently since 2021, on both occasions on charges of tax evasion. Bialiatski, as well as other human rights activists, have called the charges politically motivated. In 2022, Bialiatski was awarded the 2022 [[Nobel Peace Prize]], along with the organisations [[Memorial (society)|Memorial]] and [[Center for Civil Liberties (Ukrainian civil society organization)|Centre for Civil Liberties]].
* [[File:Dmitry Ivanov in the court.jpg|thumb|[[Dmitry Alexandrovich Ivanov|Dmitry Ivanov]] was sentenced to 8,5 years in prison under Russia's the [[Russian 2022 war censorship laws|fake news law]] in 2022. [[Amnesty International]] has recognized Ivanov as a "prisoner of conscience", and the [[Memorial (society)|Memorial]] Society has listed him among political prisoners in Russia.]][[Marat Zhylanbayev]] is a Kazakhstani athlete and activist who protested [[Kazakhstan]]'s human rights violations outside the [[Kazakhstan–European Union relations|European Union's delegation to Kazakhstan]]; he was sentenced to seven years in prison.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-08 |title=Kazakhstan: Government Critic on Trial for 'Extremism' {{!}} Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/11/08/kazakhstan-government-critic-trial-extremism |access-date=2023-12-03 |language=en}}</ref>

== Notable political prisons ==
The following prisons have been recognized as incarcerating primarily political prisoners and have therefore been called "political prisons":
* [[Bereza Kartuska Prison|Bereza Kartuska]], interwar Poland<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lptWAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Bereza+Kartuska%22+%22Political+prison%22|title=Acta Poloniae Historica|date=2004|publisher=Państwowe Wydawn. Naukowe|page=180|quote=Bereza Kartuska was a political prison with the hardest conditions in prewar Poland}}</ref>
*[[Evin Prison]], Iran<ref>{{cite journal|last=Talebi|first=Shahla|date=21 January 2014|title=Children as Protectors: The Conditions of Parenthood in a Political Prison in Iran|url=http://journals.openedition.org/champpenal/8770|journal=Champ pénal/Penal field|volume=XI|doi=10.4000/champpenal.8770|issn=1777-5272|quote=Evin, one of the most notorious political prisons in Iran|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
* [[Peter and Paul Fortress]], Imperial Russia<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Bujalski|first=Nicholas|date=May 2020|title=Russia's Peter and Paul Fortress: From Heart of Empire to Museum of the Revolution, 1825–1930|url=https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/70407|type=PhD thesis|publisher=Cornell University |doi=10.7298/6qr1-2g32|quote=Russia's Peter and Paul Fortress – the founding site of St. Petersburg, the imperial mausoleum of the royal family, and the most notorious political prison of the Romanov regime}}</ref>
* [[Shlisselburg Fortress]], Imperial Russia<ref>{{cite web|title=Шлиссельбургская крепость|trans-title=Shlisselburg Fortress|url=http://bse.sci-lib.com/article124170.html|access-date=14 July 2021|website=[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]|language=ru|quote=После постройки Кронштадта (1703) утратила военное значение и превращена в политическую тюрьму.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=17 January 2005|title=Крепость Орешек|trans-title=Oreshek Fortress|url=http://www.towns.ru/other/oreshek.html|access-date=14 July 2021|website=towns.ru|language=ru}}</ref>
* [[Spaç Prison]], Albania<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Eaton|first1=Jonathan|last2=Bllaci|first2=Mirian|last3=Petri|first3=Nedi|last4=Hadžić|first4=Lejla|last5=Mamani|first5=Elena|date=2018|title=Heritage-making and Democratic Ideals in Albania: Spaç Prison as a Site of Dialogue|url=http://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/1977/|journal=ICOMOS 19th General Assembly and Scientific Symposium "Heritage and Democracy", 13–14th December 2017, New Delhi, India|language=fr|location=New Delhi, India|quote=Spaç Prison developed into a notorious political prison and forced labour camp}}</ref>
* [[Peniche Fortress]], Estado Novo, Portugal<ref>{{cite web |last=da Cruz |first=Carlos |date=2013 |title=Praça-Forte de Peniche |url=https://fortalezas.org/?ct=fortaleza&id_fortaleza=690&muda_idioma=PT |access-date=23 February 2023 |website=Fortalezas: Fortificações do Mundo}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Carvalho |first1=Patrícia |last2=Miranda |first2=Adriano |date=6 January 2019 |title=Cumpre-se o sonho dos presos: serem libertados e terem à sua espera uma multidão |work=Público |url=https://www.publico.pt/2019/01/06/politica/reportagem/cumprese-sonho-presos-libertados-terem-espera-multidao-1856565 |access-date=23 February 2023}}</ref>
* [[Pishchalauski Castle]], Belarus<ref name=story>{{cite web |title= "Володарка". История одной тюрьмы |trans-title= Volodarka: history of a prison |date= 30 January 2013 |publisher=[[Tut.By]] |location= Minsk |url= http://news.tut.by/society/332586.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160414011209/http://news.tut.by/society/332586.html |archive-date= 14 April 2016 |access-date= 29 March 2016}}</ref>

==By country==
{{cl|Political prisoners by country}}
* [[Political prisoners in Azerbaijan]]
* [[Political prisoners in China]]
* [[List of Finnish MPs imprisoned for political reasons]]
* [[Political prisoners in Imperial Japan]]
* [[Political prisoners in Israel]]
* [[Political prisoners in Myanmar]]
* [[Political prisoners in Poland]]
* [[Political prisoners in Russia]]
* [[Political prisoners in Saudi Arabia]]
* [[Political prisoners in Syria]]
* [[Political prisoners in the United States]]
* [[Political prisoners in Venezuela]]

==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=35m|
* [[Chilling effect]]
* [[Freedom of speech]]
* [[Hate speech]]
* [[Hostage diplomacy]]
* [[List of banned political parties]]
* [[List of memoirs of political prisoners]]
* [[List of people imprisoned for editing Wikipedia]]
* [[Parliamentary immunity]]
* [[Political censorship]]
* [[Political cleansing of population]]
* [[Political freedom]]
* [[Selective prosecution]]
* [[Sovereign immunity]]
* [[Working Group on Arbitrary Detention]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*  Whitehorn, Laura. (2003). ''Fighting to Get Them Out''. Social Justice, San Francisco; 2003. Vol. 30, Iss. 2; pg. 51.
* n.a. 1973. ''Political Prisoners in South Vietnam''. London: Amnesty International Publications.
* [[Luz Arce]]. 2003. ''The Inferno: A Story of Terror and Survival in Chile''. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press. {{ISBN|0-299-19554-6}}
* [[Stuart Christie]]. 2004. ''Granny Made Me An Anarchist: General Franco, The Angry Brigade and Me''. London: Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|0-7432-5918-1}}
* [[Christina Fink]]. 2001. ''Living Silence: Burma Under Military Rule''. Bangkok: [[White Lotus Press]] and London: [[Zed Press]]. (See in particular Chapter 8: ''Prison: 'Life University' ''). In Thailand {{ISBN|974-7534-68-1}}, elsewhere {{ISBN|1-85649-925-1}} and {{ISBN|1-85649-926-X}}
* [[Marek M. Kaminski]]. 2004. ''Games Prisoners Play''. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-11721-7}} 
* Ben Kiernan. 2002. ''The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power, and Genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975–1975''. Yale University Press. {{ISBN|0-300-09649-6}}
* Stephen M. Kohn. 1994. ''American Political Prisoners''. Westport, CT: Praeger. {{ISBN|0-275-94415-8}}
* Barbara Olshansky. 2002. ''Secret Trials and Executions: Military Tribunals and the Threat to Democracy''. New York: Seven Stories Press. {{ISBN|1-58322-537-4}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{commons category|Political prisoners}}
* [http://nopoliticalprisoners.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Political-Prisoners-Report-Azerbaijan-WG-FINAL-March-2018.pdf Azerbaijan: List of Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan (March 20, 2018)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712075643/https://nopoliticalprisoners.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Political-Prisoners-Report-Azerbaijan-WG-FINAL-March-2018.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://nopoliticalprisoners.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Political-Prisoners-Report-Azerbaijan-WG-FINAL-March-2018.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |date=12 July 2019 }}
* [http://spring96.org/en/news/90048 Belarus: List of Political Prisoners]
* [http://www.cecc.gov/sites/chinacommission.house.gov/files/documents/CECC%20Pris%20List_20171105_1414.pdf China: List of Political Prisoners Detained or Imprisoned as of November 5, 2017 (1,414 cases)]
* [http://www.btselem.org/statistics/detainees_and_prisoners Israel: Statistics on Palestinians in the custody of the Israeli security forces (3 Jul 2018)]
* [http://khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1527519105List: Russia is holding over 70 Ukrainian Political Prisoners of War ]
* [http://memohrc.org/ru/bulletins/list-individuals-recognized-political-prisoners-human-rights-centre-memorial-and-0 Russia: List of Individuals Recognized as Political Prisoners by the Human Rights Centre Memorial and Persecuted in connection with the Realization of their Right to Freedom of Religion as of 29 October 2017] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712075645/https://memohrc.org/ru/bulletins/list-individuals-recognized-political-prisoners-human-rights-centre-memorial-and-0 |date=12 July 2019 }}

{{World topic|prefix=Political prisoners in|title=Political prisoners by country|noredlinks=yes}}
{{Incarceration}}
{{Social class}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Political Prisoner}}
[[Category:Dissidents| ]]
[[Category:Imprisonment and detention]]
[[Category:Political prisoners| ]]
[[Category:Political repression]]
[[Category:Political imprisonment| ]]