Many of the prisoners were supporters of Voldemort (known as Death Eaters), though some misunderstandings have resulted in others' imprisonment. For instance, Sirius Black was imprisoned without trial after Peter Pettigrew killed a dozen Muggles, faked his own death, and framed Sirius for these crimes; Sirius escapes after serving 12 years. Two years later, Harry is threatened with a term in Azkaban after he performs a Patronus Charm that saves both him and his cousin Dudley from a Dementor attack. Performing any of the Unforgivable Curses on a human is punishable by a mandatory whole life sentence in Azkaban, but that ban has been lifted for Aurors during wartime. Several characters throughout the series have performed the curses and not been punished accordingly. Other crimes which merit imprisonment here include assaulting the Ministry (for example, the Death Eaters detained in Order of the Phoenix), trespassing in the Ministry (Sturgis Podmore in Order of the Phoenix), being an unregistered Animagus, and impersonating an Inferius.
