Throughout the ages, criminal activities in society have been punished by the ruling entity of such societies with various degree of justice.
The laws are sometimes ambiguous and criminals are adept at becoming the lawmakers or rulers themselves. The US prison population is quite large compare to other countries. In some countries, the death penalty is still used for crime against the state , even if the crime is as petty as not to follow the religious edict of such nation. The history of convicts is full of unfair treatment of people and of fabricated conviction. The styles of modern imprisonment are differing in countries, and much have the same purpose: make the convicted people suffer. The case of Julian Assange is special in this regard. He hasn t been convicted of any crimes, except expose the truth.