little al
Crystal Palace fan
This makes grim reading.
The Smoking Gun: Archive
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roman polanski
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bhaexpress
New member
Yes but his whereabouts have been known for years. He's rather too high profile to be missed.
little al
Crystal Palace fan
The French don't look good in this either, they should have extradited the wanker years ago.
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even more of a complete wrong-un than i originally thought, how people can even think of defending him i dont know.
sten_super
Brain Surgeon
That's quite common though; a lot of countries refuse to extradite their own citizens. It's a blanket ban rather than person-specific. Since Polanski has French and Polish citizenship, he was free to move between the two countries without risk of extradition.
little al
Crystal Palace fan
But the French are defending him.
from swissinfo
September 27, 2009 - 2:50 PM Print this story Send this story RSS Feed
Film-maker Polanski arrested in Switzerland
Polanski had been due to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival
Image caption: Polanski had been due to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival (Keystone)
Film-maker Roman Polanski is in detention awaiting possible extradition to the United States after travelling to Switzerland to receive an award.
The 76-year-old was detained in Zurich on Saturday under a 1978 warrant issued by the US.
Zurich police said they had carried out an international arrest order on behalf of Swiss justice authorities.
Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said although Polanski had visited Switzerland in the past, his movements were not known beforehand. This time he was widely billed to be attending the Zurich Film Festival, which is holding a retrospective of his work.
The ministry said Polanski has been on a US wanted list since 2005 and was being held in temporary custody awaiting possible extradition.
"It is the rule of law and everybody is treated the same way, whether it is an ordinary citizen or a famous personality," said Widmer-Schlumpf. "It is purely a legal matter."
The US will now be given time to make a formal extradition request. Polanski can contest his detention and any extradition decision in the Swiss courts.
His lawyer Georges Kiejman told France Info radio on Sunday that he was going to try to lift the arrest warrant in Zurich, adding that the extradition convention between Switzerland and the US was "not very clear".
Plea bargain
The US warrant is linked to Polanski's arrest in the late 1970s when he was charged with giving drugs and alcohol to a 13-year-old girl and having unlawful sex with her at a photo session at Jack Nicholson's Hollywood home.
Polanski maintained the girl was sexually experienced and had consented. He spent 42 days in prison undergoing psychiatric tests but fled the country before being sentenced.
He recently sought dismissal of his case on the grounds of misconduct by the now-deceased judge who had arranged a plea bargain and then reneged on it. Earlier this year the girl involved also filed to have the charges dismissed.
Polanski has been living in France for the past three decades and became a naturalised French citizen in 1976. In the past he has avoided countries that were likely to extradite him.
"Immense cultural scandal"
The French foreign ministry announced on Sunday that Bernard Kouchner had talked with his Swiss counterpart to express France's desire that Polanski's rights be respected and to ensure a favourable outcome.
Kouchner said the French authorities had also been in contact with Polanski's lawyer.
French Culture Minister Frédéric Mitterrand said he was "stupefied" to learn of the arrest of the French-Polish film-maker.
He said he greatly regretted that "a new ordeal should be inflicted on someone who has already known so many during his life" and added that President Nicolas Sarkozy was closely following the case and shared the hope that the situation would be resolved quickly.
Polanski had travelled to Switzerland to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Zurich Film Festival.
Organisers of the festival said they were dismayed and shocked at the news of the arrest.
The planned award presentation has been postponed but the retrospective is going ahead so that festival-goers can express their solidarity and admiration for him, the festival said.
The Swiss Filmmakers Association also criticised the arrest, saying it was "not only a grotesque farce of justice, but also an immense cultural scandal".
The justice minister responded by saying she understood their reaction but urged the association to consider the country's legal obligations
__________________
from swissinfo
September 27, 2009 - 2:50 PM Print this story Send this story RSS Feed
Film-maker Polanski arrested in Switzerland
Polanski had been due to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival
Image caption: Polanski had been due to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival (Keystone)
Film-maker Roman Polanski is in detention awaiting possible extradition to the United States after travelling to Switzerland to receive an award.
The 76-year-old was detained in Zurich on Saturday under a 1978 warrant issued by the US.
Zurich police said they had carried out an international arrest order on behalf of Swiss justice authorities.
Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said although Polanski had visited Switzerland in the past, his movements were not known beforehand. This time he was widely billed to be attending the Zurich Film Festival, which is holding a retrospective of his work.
The ministry said Polanski has been on a US wanted list since 2005 and was being held in temporary custody awaiting possible extradition.
"It is the rule of law and everybody is treated the same way, whether it is an ordinary citizen or a famous personality," said Widmer-Schlumpf. "It is purely a legal matter."
The US will now be given time to make a formal extradition request. Polanski can contest his detention and any extradition decision in the Swiss courts.
His lawyer Georges Kiejman told France Info radio on Sunday that he was going to try to lift the arrest warrant in Zurich, adding that the extradition convention between Switzerland and the US was "not very clear".
Plea bargain
The US warrant is linked to Polanski's arrest in the late 1970s when he was charged with giving drugs and alcohol to a 13-year-old girl and having unlawful sex with her at a photo session at Jack Nicholson's Hollywood home.
Polanski maintained the girl was sexually experienced and had consented. He spent 42 days in prison undergoing psychiatric tests but fled the country before being sentenced.
He recently sought dismissal of his case on the grounds of misconduct by the now-deceased judge who had arranged a plea bargain and then reneged on it. Earlier this year the girl involved also filed to have the charges dismissed.
Polanski has been living in France for the past three decades and became a naturalised French citizen in 1976. In the past he has avoided countries that were likely to extradite him.
"Immense cultural scandal"
The French foreign ministry announced on Sunday that Bernard Kouchner had talked with his Swiss counterpart to express France's desire that Polanski's rights be respected and to ensure a favourable outcome.
Kouchner said the French authorities had also been in contact with Polanski's lawyer.
French Culture Minister Frédéric Mitterrand said he was "stupefied" to learn of the arrest of the French-Polish film-maker.
He said he greatly regretted that "a new ordeal should be inflicted on someone who has already known so many during his life" and added that President Nicolas Sarkozy was closely following the case and shared the hope that the situation would be resolved quickly.
Polanski had travelled to Switzerland to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Zurich Film Festival.
Organisers of the festival said they were dismayed and shocked at the news of the arrest.
The planned award presentation has been postponed but the retrospective is going ahead so that festival-goers can express their solidarity and admiration for him, the festival said.
The Swiss Filmmakers Association also criticised the arrest, saying it was "not only a grotesque farce of justice, but also an immense cultural scandal".
The justice minister responded by saying she understood their reaction but urged the association to consider the country's legal obligations
__________________
sten_super
Brain Surgeon
Fair enough; that is completely shocking. The man has been convicted of raping a minor; how on earth can they defend him? The offence does not become any more pallatable just because it was 30+ years ago.
bhaexpress
New member
The French are not too well disposed towards the US. Mind you, the US was quite happy to refuse to let us extradite IRA 'Terrorists' from them not that long ago.
sten_super
Brain Surgeon
But there is refusing to release him to the US, which I can understand, and there is continuing to support him now. I suppose part of that support is due to the political situation, though; it wouldn't look good for them to abandon one of their citizens to the US justice system.
bhaexpress
New member
Quite so, after all, look how the French behave. It's okay to burn our sheep or refuse our beef even when they have no right to. Their attitude comes as no surprise despicable as it is. However, what does it say about all the stars that have worked with him ?
bhaexpress
New member
The age of consent in France is 15. In Spain it's 13 to give a bit of perspective.
little al
Crystal Palace fan
Quite, Hollywood should be ashamed. I have NEVER watched any of his films.
What about Poland?
little al
Crystal Palace fan
We are not talking about sex.
He drugged a 13 year old girl and anally raped her. I would hang him myself the dirty filthy ****.
bhaexpress
New member
Did I say it was anything else ?
bhaexpress
New member
15, same as France.
Interesting, too, is that Polanski in the last 30 years has ben in and through Switzerland many times and yet the authorities did nothing.
He has effectively been "on the run" from the US authorities all that time, has never - I believe - visited Britain all that time , where he would of course have been arrested on arrival, yet has continued a successful film career.
Personally I think he has received a degre of worldwide sympathy due to the circumstances of the death of his wife Sharon Tate, murdered by the Manson Gang in the late 1960's.
I have to admit that "Tess" filmed mainly in France, using Britanny as a substitute for Dorset, but with scenes filmed at Stonehenge without Polanski's presence, was a masterpiece.
I was at Birling Gap on Saturday, it could have been used as a film substitute for the Adriatic!
Thanks. So they can't argue that's why they are fighting the extradition.
"Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said although Polanski had visited Switzerland in the past, his movements were not known beforehand. This time he was widely billed to be attending the Zurich Film Festival, which is holding a retrospective of his work."
I wonder how many people there are around the world, with passports saying "Roman Polanski" born in Poland etc. etc. The Swiss for years ran a tight shop, you couldn't get in without a passport. Who do they think they're kidding? He was more famous in the 1970's and 1980's than he is now.
I wonder how many people there are around the world, with passports saying "Roman Polanski" born in Poland etc. etc. The Swiss for years ran a tight shop, you couldn't get in without a passport. Who do they think they're kidding? He was more famous in the 1970's and 1980's than he is now.