List of people convicted of treason

This is a list of people convicted of treason.

Some countries, such as the U.S., have a high constitutional hurdle to conviction for treason, while many countries, especially absolute monarchies and dictatorships, have less stringent definitions.

Armenia

• Meruzhan Artzruni, Lord Prince of Vaspurakan (? - 369), for conspiring with one of the Great Persian Kings, Shapur II against his liege-lord, Armenian King Arsaces II (Arshak II), whom he betrayed to Persia. He was captured by Arsaces II's son King Papas (Pap) and executed.

Austria

• Count Lajos Batthyány de Németújvár, for involvement in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Executed by firing squad on the same day as the 13 Martyrs of Arad.

Austria-Hungary

• Nedeljko Čabrinović, for conspiring to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Vaso Čubrilović, for conspiring to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Veljko Čubrilović, for conspiring to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Trifko Grabez, for conspiring to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Danilo Ilić, for conspiring to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Muhamed Mehmedbašić, for conspiring to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Cvjetko Popović, for conspiring to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Gavrilo Princip, for assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Nazario Sauro, for fighting for Italy in the First World War

Canada

• Louis Riel, executed for leading the Métis in the North-West Rebellion against Canada's expansion into the west.
• Kanao Inouye, Kamloops-born sergeant in the Imperial Japanese army in World War II, executed for killing eight Canadian prisoners of war captured at the Battle of Hong Kong.

China

• Zhou Fohai, for serving in the Wang Jingwei government in the Second World War
• Chen Gongbo, for serving in the Wang Jingwei government in the Second World War
• Wang Jingwei, president of the Reorganized National Government of China (puppet government controlled by Japan) in the Second World War

Republic of Congo

• Pascal Lissouba, former President of the Republic of Congo

Czechoslovakia

• Karel Čurda

Denmark (under the Nazi occupational government)

• Henrik Kauffmann was charged with grand (high) treason by the Nazi-occupied Danish government, for helping the Allies.

East Germany

• Werner Teske

England

For those convicted on or after 1 May 1707, see Great Britain and United Kingdom.

Estonia

• Aleksei Dressen
• Herman Simm
• Vladimir Veitman

Fiji

• George Speight, for plotting the Fiji coup of 2000. Death sentence commuted to life in prison.
• Ratu Jope Seniloli, incumbent Vice-President (in 2004), for his role in the coup of 2000. Sentenced to four years in gaol; released by a sympathetic government after three months.

Finland

• Lauri Törni, for having served with the German Army at the end of World War II, later received a presidential pardon

France

Image taken from Trial of Marshal Ney for high treason taken in short-hand at the time of trial, 1816

• François Achille Bazaine^[1]
• Robert Brasillach
• Marcel Bucard
• Louis-Ferdinand Céline
• Cinq-Mars^[2]
• Joseph Darnand, for leading the Vichy French Milice.
• Émile Dewoitine, aviation industrialist sentenced to 20 years forced labour sentence for collaboration.
• Charles François Dumouriez^[3]
• Isabeau of Bavaria^[4]
• John the Fearless^[5]
• Pierre Laval, for being Prime Minister of Vichy France.
• Jean Victor Marie Moreau^[6]
• Michel Ney^[7]
• Philippe Pétain
• Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord^[8]
• Marie Antoinette
• Louis XVI

Germany

• Adolf Hitler, for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923
• Marinus van der Lubbe, for high treason and arson in the Reichstag fire case, in 1933
• Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl and Christoph Probst in 1943 for their involvement in the anti-Nazi White Rose movement
• Ulrich Wilhelm Graf Schwerin von Schwanenfeld (1902-1944), a key conspirator in the failed assassination attempt in the July 20 plot in 1944 on Hitler's life
• Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, for the attempted assassination of Hitler in the July 20 plot in 1944
• Günter Guillaume, Private Secretary to then-chancellor Willy Brandt, and his wife Christel Guillaume, both officers of East German Staatssicherheit, in 1975
• Clyde Lee Conrad, former US Army NCO, the only person to have been handed down a lifetime sentence for treason by a court of the Federal Republic of Germany, in 1990
• Klaus Kuron, counter-intelligence officer with the Bundesverfassungsschutz who had spied for East German Staatssicherheit, in 1992

Great Britain

For those before 1 May 1707, see England and Scotland. For those convicted on or after 1 January 1801, see United Kingdom

• Archibald Cameron of Locheil, for his part in the 1745 Jacobite rising
• Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, for his part in the 1745 Jacobite rising
• William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale, for supporting the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715
• Thomas Paine,^[9] for publishing anti-British revolutionary literature
• Charles Radclyffe, for supporting the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715

Greece

• Dimitrios Gounaris, Prime Minister of Greece (1921–1922), convicted of treason in 1922 for the Asia Minor catastrophe. Executed 15 November 1922.
• Petros Protopapadakis, Minister of Economy in Dimitrios Gounaris' government and later Prime Minister of Greece (1922), convicted of treason for the Asia Minor catastrophe. Executed 15 November 1922.
• Nikolaos Stratos, Minister of Internal Affairs in Gounaris' government, convicted of treason for the Asia Minor catastrophe. Executed 15 November 1922.
• Georgios Baltatzis, Minister of Foreign Affairs in Gounaris' government, convicted of treason for the Asia Minor catastrophe. Executed 15 November 1922.
• Nikolaos Theotokis, Minister of Military Affairs in Gounaris' government, convicted of treason for the Asia Minor catastrophe. Executed 15 November 1922.
• Georgios Hatzanestis, commanding officer of the Asia Minor and Eastern Thrace Greek army, convicted of treason for the Asia Minor catastrophe. Executed 15 November 1922.
• Michail Goudas, rear admiral and minister in Gounaris' government, convicted of treason for the Asia Minor catastrophe. Sentenced to life imprisonment.
• Xenophon Stratigos, major general and minister in Gounaris' government, convicted of treason for the Asia Minor catastrophe. Sentenced to life imprisonment.
• George Papadopoulos, Greek colonel, leader of a military junta (1967-1973), convicted of treason and jailed for life, dying in Korydallos prison.

Hawaii

The Republic of Hawaii government had one trial for treason after the failed 1895 Counter-Revolution in Hawaii. Those charged were found guilty, but pardoned after serving time in prison.^[10]

• Charles T. Gulick (1841–1897), former cabinet minister
• Robert William Wilcox (1855–1903), military leader, later delegate to US Congress

Hungary

• Imre Nagy, Prime Minister of Hungary, for leading the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
• Count Fidel Palffy
• László Rajk
• Sándor Szűcs, international footballer, for defecting.

India

• Muhammad Ayub Thakur

Israel

• Meir Tobianski, falsely accused of treason during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Executed by firing squad but pardoned after his death.
• Mordechai Vanunu, for revealing details of Israel's nuclear weapons program to the British press in 1986.

Japan

• Ozaki Hotsumi, journalist and Soviet agent (nominally convicted under the Peace Preservation Law)
• Daisuke Namba, Japanese left-wing activist
• Kotoku Shusui, Japanese anarchist

Kenya

• Hezekiah Ochuka, Kenya airforce soldier, for conspiring to overthrow the government of Daniel Moi in 1982

Kuwait

• Alaa Hussein Ali, for heading the Iraqi puppet government during the Gulf War

Mexico

• Agustín de Iturbide, for fighting for the royalists' army during the Mexican War of Independence.

Netherlands

• Anton Mussert, for leading the Dutch puppet regime under Nazi occupation.

New Zealand

• Patrick Stanley Vaughan Heenan, for passing information to the Japanese during World War II
• Hamiora Pere, for fighting against the British government in Te Kooti's War.

Norway

• Albert Viljam Hagelin, member of Quisling's government.
• Vidkun Quisling, for being Minister President of Nazi-occupied Norway during World War II. The word 'quisling' now means 'traitor'.
• Ragnar Skancke, Quisling's minister of Church and Educational Affairs.
• Arne Treholt Norwegian diplomat, turned by the KGB

Pakistan

• Shakil Afridi, for spying for the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States
• Hussain Haqqani, for involvement with a secret memo to Admiral Michael Mullen asking for US intervention in changing Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies.

Poland

For the betrayal of General Stefan Rowecki to the Gestapo:

• Blanka Kaczorowska (“Sroka”), as above, emigrated to France in 1971
• Ludwik Kalkstein ("Hanka"), protected by the Gestapo during the war, emigrated to France in 1982
• Eugeniusz Świerczewski (“Gens”), executed 1944

For betrayal of the Polish People's Republic:

• Witold Pilecki ("Druh"), death for espionage for the Polish Government-in-exile, executed in 1948, posthumously acquitted in 1990
• Ryszard Kukliński ("Jack Strong"), escaped to the USA in 1981, sentenced to death in absentia in 1984, in 1990 sentence changed to 25 years of imprisonment, in 1995 sentence cancelled due to search of the 1st President of the Supreme Court, fully pardoned in 1997
• Adam Kaczmarczyk, death for espionage for MI16, executed in 1969

Russia

• Valentin Danilov - 14 years for espionage for China
• Mikhail Shein
• Igor Sutyagin (2004) - 15 years for espionage for USA. Exchanged for Russian spies in 2010.

Scotland

For those convicted on or after 1 May 1707, see Great Britain and United Kingdom.

• Robert Baillie, for involvement in the Rye House Plot
• William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie, for leading the Raid of Ruthven on King James VI
• Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany
• Patrick Stewart, Earl of Orkney, for usurping King James VI on the Orkney Islands

Soviet Union

For those convicted on or after 25 December 1991, see Russia .

• Leonid Eitingon circa 1953
• Oleg Penkovsky
• Adolf Tolkachev, worked with CIA, executed 1986
• Gennady Varenik KGB, worked for CIA
• Andrey Vlasov
• Genrikh Yagoda

Spain

• Francisco Xavier Mina, for fighting against the Spanish government in the Mexican War of Independence.
• Camilo Torres Tenorio, for leading the independence movement in Colombia

Sri Lanka

• Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Tamil rebel leader who fought with the government for 30 years. Prabhakaran was convicted in absentia by a sensation-seeking Colombo High Court judge Sarath Ambepitiya (a Sinhalese ethnic) based on dubious evidence. The crime was the Central Bank bomb blast in Colombo that happened on January 31, 1996, in which 96 died. Prabhakaran was not convicted for treason, but given 200 years imprisonment. Sarath Ambepitiya was later assassinated on November 19, 2004, in a plot masterminded by a drug kingpin Mohamed Niyas Naufer.

Sweden

• Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, attempted to overthrow the guardian-government of King Gustav IV Adolf with Russian military assistance.
• Johann Patkul, protested the land-recovery project of Charles XI of Sweden and, when unsuccessful, sided with Augustus the Strong and tried to wrest Livonia from Sweden.
• Magdalena Rudenschöld, for taking part in the Armfelt conspiracy.
• Brita Tott, for exposing military movements to Denmark

Switzerland

• Jean-Louis Jeanmaire, sentenced to 18 years of prison (released after 12 for good behavior) for leaking information to the Soviet KGB.

Turkey

• Abdullah Öcalan, life sentence (originally death penalty) for trying to establish a Kurdish state in Turkey.

United Kingdom

For those before 1 January 1801, see England, Scotland, and Great Britain.

• John Amery, for trying to recruit soldiers and broadcasting propaganda for Nazi Germany
• Roger Casement, for negotiating with Germany to provide arms to Irish revolutionaries during the First World War for use in the Irish Easter 1916 rising; hanged in August 1916.
• William Comstive, Charles Stanfield, Richard Addy, Benjamin Hanson and eighteen others were tried and convicted for High Treason for revolt in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1820.
• William Joyce, alias 'Lord Haw-Haw', for broadcasting Nazi propaganda to the United Kingdom during World War II
• Members of the British Free Corps: Thomas Haller Cooper and Walter Purdy (death sentences commuted)
• Participants in the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland: Patrick Pearse, Thomas J. Clarke, Thomas MacDonagh, Joseph Mary Plunkett, Edward (Ned) Daly, William Pearse, Michael O'Hanrahan, John MacBride, Éamonn Ceannt, Michael Mallin, Cornelius Colbert, Seán Heuston, Seán Mac Diarmada, James Connolly, and Thomas Kent were shot by firing squad in May 1916.
• Arthur Thistlewood, John Brunt, William Davidson, James Ings, Richard Tidd, Charles Cooper, Richard Bradburn, John Harrison, James Wilson and John Shaw Strange participants of the 1820 Cato Street Conspiracy
• James Wilson (revolutionary) convicted and executed for High Treason, following his part in the Scottish Insurrection of 1820.

United States

• Walter Allen was convicted of treason on September 16, 1922 for taking part in the 1921 miners' war with the coal companies and the US Army on Blair Mountain, West Virginia. He was sentenced to 10 years and fined. During his appeal to the Supreme Court he disappeared while out on bail. United Mineworkers of America leader William Blizzard was acquitted of the charge of treason by the jury on May 25, 1922.
• Robert Henry Best, convicted of treason on April 16, 1948 and served a life sentence.
• John Brown, convicted of treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1859 and executed for attempting to organize armed resistance to slavery.
• Iva Toguri D'Aquino, who is frequently identified with "Tokyo Rose" convicted 1949. Subsequently pardoned by President Gerald Ford.
• Governor Thomas Dorr 1844, convicted of treason against the state of Rhode Island; see Dorr Rebellion; released in 1845; civil rights restored in 1851; verdict annulled in 1854.
• John Fries, the leader of Fries' Rebellion, convicted of treason in 1800 along with two accomplices, and pardoned that same year by John Adams.
• Mildred Gillars, also known as "Axis Sally", convicted of treason on March 8, 1949; served 12 years of a 10- to 30-year prison sentence.
• Herbert Hans Haupt, German-born naturalized U.S. citizen, was convicted of treason in 1942 and executed after being named as a German spy by fellow German spies defecting to the United States.
• Tomoya Kawakita, sentenced to death for treason in 1952, but eventually released by President John F. Kennedy to be deported to Japan.
• Martin James Monti, United States Army Air Forces pilot, convicted of treason for defecting to the Waffen SS in 1944. He was paroled in 1960.
• William Bruce Mumford, convicted of treason and hanged in 1862 for tearing down a United States flag during the American Civil War.
• Aaron Dwight Stevens, took part in John Brown's raid and was executed in 1860 for treason against Virginia.
• Philip Vigol and John Mitchell, convicted of treason and sentenced to hanging; pardoned by George Washington; see Whiskey Rebellion.
• Julius and Ethel Rosenburg, convicted of treason who spied for the Soviet Union and were executed for conspiracy to commit espionage and for passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviets. Were executed in 1953

Zimbabwe

• Ndabaningi Sithole, for conspiring to kill Robert Mugabe

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Footnotes

1. Valode, Philippe (2007). Les Grands traitres de l'histoire. Paris, France: First Edition. p. 233.
2. Valode, Philippe (2007). Les Grands traitres de l'histoire. Paris, France: First Edition. p. 155.
3. Valode, Philippe (2007). Les Grands traitres de l'histoire. Paris, France: First Edition. p. 175.
4. Valode, Philippe (2007). Les Grands traitres de l'histoire. Paris, France: First Edition. p. 112.
5. Valode, Philippe (2007). Les Grands traitres de l'histoire. Paris, France: First Edition. p. 95.
6. Valode, Philippe (2007). Les Grands traitres de l'histoire. Paris, France: First Edition. p. 214.
7. Valode, Philippe (2007). Les Grands traitres de l'histoire. Paris, France: First Edition. p. 229.
8. Valode, Philippe (2007). Les Grands traitres de l'histoire. Paris, France: First Edition. p. 203.
9. Conway, Moncure Daniel (1893) [1892]. The Life of Thomas Paine. New York: Knickerbocker Press. p. 375. Retrieved 2006-07-06.
10. "Prisoners Pardoned". Hawaiian gazette (Honolulu). January 3, 1896. Retrieved June 20, 2010.