According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’.
The term is used by persons or groups challenging the legitimacy of the detention of a prisoner. Supporters of the term define a political prisoner as someone who is imprisoned for his or her participation in political activity. If a political offense was not the official reason for detention, the term would imply that the detention was motivated by the prisoner's politics.
Read more about Political Prisoner: Various Definitions, Notable Groups of Political Prisoners, Famous Historic Political Prisoners
Famous quotes containing the words political and/or prisoner:
“History suggests that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.”
—Milton Friedman (b. 1912)
“The prisoner is not the one who has commited a crime, but the one who clings to his crime and lives it over and over.”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)