Lawfare runs amok from Brazil to Poland putting democracy in danger

Politics has high enough stakes without the losers being sent to prison — or losing their heads.Jailing opponents or condemning them to death is what dictatorships do, not democracies.But times are changing, rapidly — and democracy isn’t what it used to be, thanks to a vengeful spirit that’s taken hold from Brazil to South Korea.And we’ve had a taste of it as well.As Americans think about what’s in store for the next two years after a new Congress is sworn in next January, with the 2028 presidential election now on the horizon, we should take heed of just how far “lawfare” is going in other parts of the world. In Seoul, former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has literally been on trial for his life.Prosecutors last week renewed demands that Yoon be put to death for his attempt to impose martial law in late 2024.Prosperous as South Korea is, its democracy is still young, less than 40 years old, and three of the country’s last five presidents have wound up being sent to prison. But prosecutors are not satisfied with the life sentence (and additional time) already imposed on Yoon: They want him dead, despite the farcical nature of his attempt at martial law, which lasted barely six hours.President Donald Trump’s critics have at times invoked South Korea as a precedent for how they’d like him to be treated.The idea is sheer madness, not only because of the differences between Trump and South Korea’s imprisoned presidents but even more important, because the South Korean example illustrates how escalatory these episodes can be. The threat of winding up in prison like some of his predecessors only made Yoon more determined to stay in office at any cost.Killing him risks making the next leader — who fears for his life as well as his freedom — even more desperate to survive by whatever means he can muster.This was the predicament Julius Caesar found himself in 2,000 years ago.His political enemies were waiting for his military command out...