Polanski - No longer a fugitive

[Wezil]

Director Roman Polanski was arrested by Swiss police for possible extradition to the United States for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl, authorities said Sunday.

Polanski was flying in to receive an honorary award at the Zurich Film Festival when he was apprehended Saturday at the airport, the Swiss Justice Ministry said in a statement. It said U.S. authorities have sought the arrest of the 76-year-old around the world since 2005.

“There was a valid arrest request and we knew when he was coming,” ministry spokesman Guido Balmer told The Associated Press. “That's why he was taken into custody.”

Balmer said the U.S. would now be given time to make a formal extradition request.

Polanski fled the U.S. in 1978, a year after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with the underage girl.

The director of such classic films as “Chinatown” and “Rosemary's Baby” has asked a U.S. appeals court in California to overturn a judges' refusal to throw out his case. He claims misconduct by the now-deceased judge who had arranged a plea bargain and then reneged on it.

The Swiss statement said Polanski was officially in “provisional detention for extradition,” but added that he would not be transferred to U.S. authorities until all proceedings are completed. Polanski can contest his detention and any extradition decision in the Swiss courts, it said.

Polanski has faced a U.S. arrest request since 1978 and has lived for the past three decades in France, where his career has continued to flourish. He received a directing Oscar in absentia for the 2002 movie “The Pianist.” He was not extradited from France because his crime reportedly was not covered under the U.S.'s treaties with the country.

In France, Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said he was “dumbfounded” by Polanski's arrest, adding that he “strongly regrets that a new ordeal is being inflicted on someone who has already experienced so many of them.”

Mitterrand's ministry said Sunday in a statement that he is in contact with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, “who is following the case with great attention and shares the minister's hope that the situation can be quickly resolved.”

A native of France who was taken to Poland by his parents, Polanski escaped Krakow's Jewish ghetto as a child and lived off the charity of strangers. His mother died at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp.

He worked his way into filmmaking in Poland, gaining an Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film in 1964 for his “Knife in the Water.” Offered entry to Hollywood, he directed the classic “Rosemary's Baby” in 1968.

But his life was shattered again in 1969 when his wife, actress Sharon Tate, and four other people were gruesomely murdered by followers of Charles Manson. She was eight months pregnant.

He went on to make another American classic, “Chinatown,” released in 1974.

In 1977, he was accused of raping the teenager while photographing her during a modeling session. The girl said Polanski plied her with champagne and part of a Quaalude pill at Jack Nicholson's house while the actor was away. She said that, despite her protests, he performed oral sex, intercourse and sodomy on her.

Polanski was allowed to plead guilty to one of six charges, unlawful sexual intercourse, and was sent to prison for 42 days of evaluation.

Lawyers agreed that would be his full sentence, but the judge tried to renege on the plea bargain. Aware the judge would sentence him to more prison time and require his voluntary deportation, Polanski fled to France.

The victim, Samantha Geimer, who long ago identified herself publicly, has joined in Polanski's bid for dismissal, saying she wants the case to be over. She sued Polanski and reached an undisclosed settlement.

Festival organizers said Polanski's detention had caused “shock and dismay,” but that they would go ahead with Sunday's planned retrospective of the director's work.

The Swiss Directors Association sharply criticized authorities for what it deemed “not only a grotesque farce of justice, but also an immense cultural scandal.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1303059/

[SlowwHand]

What he didn't wasn't right, but a deal was made. The victim wants to move on.
It's ridiculous.

[Wezil]

Victims don't decide the punishment.

[DinoDoc]

What he didn't wasn't right, but a deal was made. The victim wants to move on.

How does a 42 day sentence for raping a 14 year old girl serve the interests of justice?

[Wezil]

I just wish Kissinger would travel more extensively.

[SlowwHand]

According to the article you posted, it was a deal by a judge, not the victim, although she reached a financial deal with him.

[chequita guevara]

Isn't there a statute of limitations?

[Wezil]

Then let him make his argument/position known in court. "The law" obviously still wants him.

[Wezil]

Isn't there a statute of limitations?

For fleeing punishment? If you stay away long enough they let it go?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Yeah, I don't think there is a statute of limitations for fleeing punishment... in any jurisdiction.

[chequita guevara]

nm

[DinoDoc]

According to the article you posted, it was a deal by a judge, not the victim, although she reached a financial deal with him.

The judge apparently found the "deal" repellant and was going to move to quash it. Hence the rapist decided to flee.

[DinoDoc]

Pretty much

Sorry che. There's no reward for being a sucessful fugitive.

[Wezil]

I actually surprised Polanski put himself in this position. After 3 decades of dodging extradition you would think he would have known better.

[SlowwHand]

Known better than what? Than to fly to a historically neutral country to receive an award?

[DinoDoc]

Known better than what?

To travel to countries with a extradition treaty with the US.

[Wezil]

Than to go to a jurisdiction (Switzerland) where he could face extradition. He's been very careful about his travel in the past.

[DanS]

I wonder what a normal sentence for this would have been at the time.

Unfortunately for Polanski, I'm guessing that the sentences of 1977 were much more lenient than the sentences in 2009.

[SlowwHand]

I don't agree, with any of it. I don't agree with him that the act was acceptable. I don't agree with the US court's conduct and I don't agree with the Swiss government's actions.
Really, the only one I agree with so far is the by now middle aged victim.

[Wezil]

I wonder what a normal sentence for this would have been at the time.

Unfortunately for Polanski, I'm guessing that the sentences of 1977 were much more lenient than a sentence in 2009.

I was just wondering the same thing. What sort of punishment does he face if/when he gets back to the US?

[Wezil]

He's a child diddler Sloww. Shouldn't he be on your Hang Them High list?

[DinoDoc]

Unfortunately for Polanski, I'm guessing that the sentences of 1977 were much more lenient than the sentences in 2009.

Ex post facto prolly is the one area of law that works for him in this incident.

[Space05us]

I don't agree, with any of it. I don't agree with him that the act was acceptable. I don't agree with the US court's conduct and I don't agree with the Swiss government's actions.
Really, the only one I agree with so far is the by now middle aged victim.

He had sex with a child when he was in his forties.


from the never erring wikipedia

Sex crime conviction
In 1977, Polanski, then aged 44, became embroiled in a scandal involving 13-year-old Samantha Gailey (now known as Samantha Geimer). It ultimately led to Polanski's guilty plea to the charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.[23]
According to Geimer, Polanski asked Geimer's mother if he could photograph the girl for the French edition of Vogue, which Polanski had been invited to guest-edit. Her mother allowed a private photo shoot. According to Geimer in a 2003 interview, "Everything was going fine; then he asked me to change, well, in front of him." She added, "It didn't feel right, and I didn't want to go back to the second shoot."
Geimer later agreed to a second session, which took place on March 10, 1977 at the Mulholland area home of actor Jack Nicholson in Los Angeles. "We did photos with me drinking champagne," Geimer says. "Toward the end it got a little scary, and I realized he had other intentions and I knew I was not where I should be. I just didn't quite know how to get myself out of there." Geimer testified that Polanski performed various sexual acts on her,[24][25][26] after giving her a combination of champagne and quaaludes.[27] In the 2003 interview, Geimer says she resisted. "I said no several times, and then, well, gave up on that."[28]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_P...ime_conviction


He deserves to meet some nice people in prison here in the states.

[SlowwHand]

I see your point, Wez. The law is what it is. He knew it was illegal and he did it anyway.

Now, I never want to hear another word from you about the death penalty.
If you're ever caught with pot in the States, don't bother complaining to anyone.
The laws are what they are.

I don't give a rat's rump about Roman Polanski. I wanted to make the above observations. Thanks. I appreciate it.

[Wezil]

I see your point, Wez. The law is what it is. He knew it was illegal and he did it anyway.

Do you disagree with laws preventing 40 year olds from having sex with 13 year olds?

Now, I never want to hear another word from you about the death penalty.

Yes, clearly this is the same argument.

If you're ever caught with pot in the States, don't bother complaining to anyone.
The laws are what they are.

No fear of that my friend. I don't travel to your country anymore (2004 was my last time). All my future travel plans take me elsewhere.

[SlowwHand]

Kind of like Polanski?

[Wezil]

He made the mistake of committing the crime in the US.

I have yet to commit any crimes (felonies anyway) in your country.

[loinburger]

He deserves to meet some nice people in prison here in the states.

Would you prefer he be assaulted, raped, murdered, or some combination of the three?

[chequita guevara]

What Polanski did was not statutory rape, but real rape. It was non-consensual. He certainly shouldn't have been given the light plea bargain, and the original judge was right to throw out the agreement. Polanski's lawyers should have told him that the judge is under no obligation to stick to the plea agreement sentencing recommendations.

[Winston]

Polanski - No longer a fugitive

Forget it, Roman. It's Switzerland.