Comparative Politics

Charles G. Taylor, Liberia

he ended up standing trial in an international court for war crimes for his role in neighboring Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, charged with murder, sexual slavery and using child soldiers.

Mr. Taylor was sentenced to 50 years in prison. It was the first time since the Nuremberg trials that a former head of state was convicted by an international tribunal.

Hosni Mubarak, Egypt

Mr. Mubarak stepped down in February 2011.Just two months later, the military government to which he handed power arrested him.

He was put on trial for a series of charges, at times wheeled into the courtroom on a hospital bed.

he was freed this year and escorted by armed guard to his mansion in the Heliopolis neighborhood of Cairo.

Muammar el-Qaddafi, Libya

Mr. Qaddafi remained defiant even as it became clear he would not maintain his grip on the country, as rebels overran his fortresslike compound and seized full control of Tripoli in August 2011.Just months later in October 2011, Mr. Qaddafi died at the hands of rebel groups while trying to flee.

Joseph Kabila, Democratic Republic of Congo

was supposed to step down last December at the end of his second term, as constitutionally mandated. But he refused, s

his fears for his safety and his wealth.

Mr. Kabila first came to office in 2001, after his father, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, was assassinated.

he has been widely accused of amassing wealth at the expense of the state

Investigators and some government officials say that Mr. Kabila has looted millions of dollars in public assets

Elections have been pushed back to December 2018,