Full List Of Impeached World Leaders From The 21st Century

“Impeachment” is no longer an unfamiliar term among American people in the 21^st Century. The growing sense of divisiveness in the nation, largely initiated by President Donald Trump’s rise to power and the string of controversies that he has managed to get entangled in, has led many to call for Trump’s removal from office.

Since most of the serious accusations against the Trump administration are still under investigation — reasons behind the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, possible collusions between Trump campaign members and Russia, Trump’s alleged interference into FBI’s probe of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn – there have been no definite grounds to call for the president’s impeachment.

However, there have been a number of world leaders who were unceremoniously ousted from their presidential posts following various crimes that violated their oath of office.

1. Park-Geun Hye, former president of South Korea

Park, the first female South Korean president, became the latest world leader to get impeached. She was accused of colluding with her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil and ripping off multinational companies such as Samsung of tens of millions of dollars in bribe in exchange for continuing their business in South Korea, the Guardian reported. People of the country took to the streets to protest against her, which led to Park getting impeached in December 2016, followed by a constitutional court ordering her removal from office in March 2017.

Moon Jae-in, a member of the left-wing party was sworn in as the new president of South Korea on May 10, 2017, BBC reported.

2. Dilma Rousseff, former president of Brazil

Similar to Park, Rousseff was the first female president of Brazil. She was ousted from office following charges that she manipulated the federal budget. Even though she continued to deny the allegations, members of the opponent party called for her impeachment. On Aug. 31, 2016, 61 senators ruled in favor of her dismissal, which put an end to the 13-year undefeated rule of her left-wing Workers' Party, BBC reported.

3. Otto Perez, former president of Guatemala

Perez led Guatemala from 2012 to 2015. During the course of his brief term, he spearheaded a corrupt operation, which allowed companies to import foreign goods into the country without having to pay custom taxes. There were mass protests on the streets of Guatemala that called for Perez to be held accountable for his actions. Finally, on Sept. 1, 2015, the Guatemalan parliament stripped Perez of his diplomatic immunity. Two days later he was presented before court with charges for customs fraud, racketeering and bribery, BBC reported. His trial is currently ongoing.

4. Moshe Katsav, former president of Israel

Katsav was indicting by the Israeli authorities when 3 female employees accused him of sexual harassment and rape. The duration of the accusations spanned from the time that Katsav was the cabinet minister of the country in 1997, through his 2000-2007 term as president, Independent reported. As a way out of getting impeached, Katsav brokered a plea bargain with the authorities in June 2007 that also included him resigning from his presidential post as one of the conditions, Independent reported.

In order to prove his innocence, the plea deal was rejected by him later on. In 2010, he was sentenced to prison for seven years for two counts of rape. In 2016, he was released after serving five of his seven-year jail sentence.

5. Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez, president of Paraguay

On June 22, 2012 Lugo resigned from his post as a president but not before declaring that democracy "has been deeply wounded." Although Lugo became famously known as the first leader in the history of Paraguay to whom the opposition had surrendered power peacefully, after serving almost four years in office, he lost the confidence of his own allies, due to his strident and uncompromising nature.

He was indicted for four charges of malfeasance of governmental office and alleged participation in a confrontation between the police and farmers that left 17 dead, the Guardian reported.

6. Rolandas Paksas, former president of Lithuania

Paksas was ousted from presidential office after less than 14 months, after being accused of handing Lithuanian citizenship to Russian campaign donor, New York Times reported. The political scandal ripped through the country for six months before the Lithuanian parliament issued its order, which resulted in Paksas’ removal from office. The impeachment of their leader came at the same time that the country celebrated becoming NATO’s newest member.

7. Abdurrahman Wahid, former president of Indonesia

Wahid, who was fondly called “Gus Dur” by the people, was credited with bringing democracy and freedom back to Indonesia, but at the same time, criticized for his unruly choices of cabinet and unstable administration that plunged Indonesia into an economic crisis.

The Indonesian parliament ruled in favor of Wahid’s impeachment on July 2001 on corruption charges that is said to have been tailored by his political opponents, New York Times reported.

8. Alberto Fujimori, former president of Peru

Fujimori, who served as the president from 1990 to 2000, was accused of violating human rights for the killing of 25 people by a military death squad at a time when Peru was going through a conflict with Maoist rebels, the New York Times reported. In order to avoid getting caught, Fujimori fled to Japan, from where he faxed in his resignation. The congress of Peru refused to accept his resignation and Fujimori was extradited to his country after an elaborate legal battle. He was sentenced with 25 years in prison.