The point was that the convicted person did not agree to the rules.

I don't think Bernie Madoff was making a principled protest against the inquities of the financial regulators: he was quite happy for other people to abide the rules. (Reliant on that: if everyone cheats, cheaters have no edge). I chose him as an example, rather than, eg Mandela for a reason.

Also, not all people convicted in a court of law actually did the thing they were convicted of.

I know. I hoped I could take all the side-conditions about fair trials etc as read.