It's hard to take this seriously, especially when if I ask for citations it'll likely be a couple of extremely obscure cases where the details are being conveniently glossed over.
> In September 2022, a British woman was arrested and charged for holding up an "abolish monarchy" sign at a proclamation ceremony for King Charles III in Edinburgh. Similar arrests throughout the country around this period over anti-monarchy republican sentiment have alarmed human rights groups.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/police-make-30-arr...
I'm not defending his arrest, and quite obviously something went very wrong there, but again, we're talking about jail here. Posting an obscure cockup as if its the norm is pretty disingenuous.
What do you think happens when you are arrested? You are taken to jail. At least for a few hours, or overnight, or even several days depending on the court schedule. And then there are the mountain of legal fees and dread of your fate hanging in the balance.
Sure, it’s not necessarily long term incarceration, but it’s enough to scare most reasonable people into submission.