Political Parties

Abstract

Politicians in many countries run the risk of being imprisoned. In some societies, it may even be termed an occupational hazard. The convenience to the governing faction of removing one’s political opponents from the public arena may only be offset by the inconvenience of their political martyrdom in prison. Amnesty International lists 62 known cases of Parliamentarians imprisoned or ‘disappeared’ in mid-1977;¹ numerous other politicians, whether democratically elected or not, may be undemocratically disposed of in this way (not to mention the widespread use of murder as a political weapon in societies as otherwise dissimilar as those of Central America and Central Africa).