13 Times Star Trek Broke Its Own Prime Directive

The planet Bajor has finally freed itself from the tyrannical rule of planet Cardassia. But to help them get back on their feet, the federation sends an emissary in the form of Captain Sisko. His job is to help mediate relations between the Bajorans and the Federation, while helping in minor ways to get the Bajoran government and culture up and running again.

You may be wondering how this breaks the prime directive. After all, if Sisko's mission is approved by Starfleet, surely this is okay? Well on some levels, yes, but Sisko, in keeping with tradition, just can't leave well enough alone. Multiple times throughout the show, especially in the first two seasons, Sisko interferes in Bajoran politics to a point that's a bit beyond what a starfleet officer should be concerning himself with.

Now sure, some of these episodes manage to find a good way around this, him being a starfleet officer makes him a good third part mediator between Bajoran and Cardassian affairs for one, but there are definitely more than a few times where he doesn't have that excuse and is VERY lucky that he's so far away from Federation HQ most of the time.