Documented cases of high-profile opposition political figures being formally incarcerated (charged or held in pre-trial detention) were essentially zero from 2004 through 2014. They rose moderately in 2015-2018 and accelerated sharply from 2019, with 9-11 cases per year in 2023-2025.
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This is one of 36 standing analyses drawn from the Some Perspective dataset. It is not dated commentary: it describes a relationship in the data that holds across the series, and it is regenerated whenever the underlying dataset is refreshed. The figures quoted here reflect the 2026-08-15 data vintage.