secret police
nounDefinition of secret police
: a police organization operating for the most part in secrecy and especially for the political purposes of its government often with terroristic methods
Examples of secret police in a Sentence
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In one afternoon, Putin likely goes from discussing tax policy with his economic advisers to planning targeted assassinations of dissidents and business competitors with his secret police. — Bill Browder, Time, "I've Been Putin's Number One Foreign Enemy for a Decade. Here's What Trump Should Know About Handling Him," 12 July 2018 Himmler also commanded the German secret police, the Gestapo, and established the system of prison and concentration camps in which more than 6 million people — primarily Jews but also Roma, homosexuals, and others — would perish. — Washington Post, BostonGlobe.com, "Gudrun Burwitz, ever-loyal daughter of Nazi mastermind Heinrich Himmler, dies at 88," 11 July 2018 Get our daily newsletter From executioner to executive Born in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza, Mr Sinwar became an early member of Hamas and helped to create its secret police. — The Economist, "The leader of Hamas in Gaza is the most influential man in Palestine," 26 May 2018 There in the the headquarters of Togo’s secret police — the notorious Research and Intelligence Service — the captives were beaten, waterboarded and forced to kneel and neigh like horses. — Siobhan O'grady, latimes.com, "‘It’s just barbarity’: Togo’s political prisoners describe torture in police custody," 4 June 2018 His secret police managed to be incompetent and hated. — Reuel Marc Gerecht And, WSJ, "Don’t Fear Regime Change in Iran," 11 June 2018 They were held in a notorious Caracas prison, run by the secret police, that also is home to dozens of top Maduro opponents jailed during the past few years of political unrest in the country. — Joshua Goodman, The Seattle Times, "Man held in Venezuela for 2 years is welcomed home by Trump," 27 May 2018 Cornea, a French professor at Cluj's Babes Bolyai University, sent her first letter protesting the communist regime to Radio Free Europe in 1982 and went on to send dozens of similar letters, attracting the attention of the Securitate secret police. — Fox News, "Romanian anti-communist dissident Doina Cornea dies," 5 May 2018 But in its current form, many advocates are calling ICE essentially an unaccountable secret police force. — Luke Darby, GQ, "Is There a Better Way Forward Than Abolishing ICE?," 27 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'secret police.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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