Many Republicans call the actions of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, prosecuting on flimsy grounds the chief rival to the sitting president of Bragg’s own party, unprecedented, but a simple perusal of stores from around the third world shows this accusation against Bragg is false.

At the website of Amnesty International, you’ll find this writeup regarding the recent presidential elections in Cambodia:

“Kem Sokha is the former president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). On 3 September 2017, he was arrested and charged under Article 443 of the Criminal Code for ‘conspiring with [a] foreign power’. The charges state that Sokha had a ‘secret plan’ which had been carried out since 1993 to overthrow the government. He was convicted of treason and sentenced to 27 years in prison in the lead-up to the 2023 national election.”

Cambodia’s government is not unique in arresting, prosecuting, and jailing opposition leaders. In the United States, the Democratic Party does this, too.

Bangladesh’s government in 2018 sentenced opposition leader Khaleda Zia to five years in prison on charges of corruption. Human Rights Watch notes, “Politically motivated arrests of opposition members – or even just critics of the government – were common in the run-up to the 2018 election, which returned Hasina to a third consecutive term. Official results showed the ruling party winning more than 95 percent of the contested parliamentary seats.

Earlier this Spring, the Biden administration expressed its concern when India’s government arrested and jailed opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal. The Wall Street Journal reported “The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has said that law-enforcement agencies are merely doing their job and that no one is above the law.”

Azerbaijan has similar stories. Here’s another note from Amnesty International: “On 14 December 2023, the Azerbaijani authorities arrested a prominent opposition figure and unrelenting government critic, Tofig Yagublu, on spurious forgery and fraud charges.”

And here’s an Associated Press report from Venezuela:

“CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s top prosecutor on Wednesday announced arrest warrants for the presidential campaign manager of opposition powerhouse Maria Corina Machado and eight other staffers, accusing them involvement in a violent anti-government conspiracy.

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“Attorney General Tarek William Saab said in a nationally televised news conference that campaign manager Magalli Meda and the other Machado staffers were accused of being part of a “destabilizing” plot that included demonstrations, a media campaign and plans to attack military barracks.”

Many governments that proudly call themselves democracies jail the leader of the opposition party. This is hardly rare.