Roman Polanski Finally Arrested

[Phallusy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090927/...rland_polanski

ZURICH – Director Roman Polanski was arrested by Swiss police as he flew in for the Zurich Film Festival and faces possible extradition to the United States for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl, authorities said Sunday.

Polanski was scheduled to receive an honorary award at the 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 director 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 have 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 in "provisional detention for extradition," but added 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 lived for the past three decades in France, where his career has continued to flourish, and he received a directing Oscar in absentia for the 2002 movie "The Pianist."

Polanski has not been extradited from France because his crime reportedly was not covered under treaties between the United States and France.

In Paris, 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."

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

Mitterrand's ministry said Sunday that he was 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."

Polanski 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.

Zurich Film Festival organizers said Polanski's detention had caused "shock and dismay," but said 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."

[JeremY B]

The Judge that sentenced him was an idiot. I think they just need to once and for all let this shit go and release him.

[BradH]

Originally Posted by JeremY B

The Judge that sentenced him was an idiot. I think they just need to once and for all let this shit go and release him.

fuck that. he raped a 13 year old. money and fame shouldn't buy you freedom.

[lazycache]

I remember an interview he did in Premiere magazine back in in 1988 when Frantic came out...I think the photoshoot was him in the middle of field with his hands up facing forward, with what looked like the police behind me him..like he was "caught"....

Bad karma.....

[PETA]

ahem... that's "aretted"

dammit

[tricky]

the original pedobear?

[Eric Scholwinski]

who cares, it's over.

even the chick who got boned doesn't give a shit anymore. lol

Free the Pollock!!!!!

i mean, if the Polish can't be famous and fuck underage girls, then i want out of the game.


oh and he's fucking 77, who gives a fuck he'll more than likely be dead in 10 years.

[Deff Gordon]

consensual or not... he still fucked a 13 year old and that's against the law. he fled. fuck him.

[transplant]

Originally Posted by Deff Gordon

consensual or not... he still fucked a 13 year old and that's against the law. he fled. fuck him.

True, but the victim should be able to opt out of the proceedings.

[david austin]

I am divided on this.

Personally I would like to see what the settlement was from the original case.

I dont think you should be able to buy your way out of a crime... but man... it was 30 years ago. He reached a settlement, and she doesnt even want anything more to come of it.

I guess I dont see what point is really going to be made here.

[SeedfulMusic]

Originally Posted by Eric Scholwinski

who cares, it's over.

even the chick who got boned doesn't give a shit anymore. lol

Free the Pollock!!!!!

i mean, if the Polish can't be famous and fuck underage girls, then i want out of the game.


oh and he's fucking 77, who gives a fuck he'll more than likely be dead in 10 years.

Wow... dumbass.

[tricky]

Originally Posted by PETA

ahem... that's "aretted"

dammit

someone please change this...ffs...you're doing it wrong

[Eric Scholwinski]

Originally Posted by SeedfulMusic

Wow... dumbass.

wow sarcasm and jokes.

idiot.

but to be perfectly honest, I'm indifferent about whole thing. They showed a thing about it recently on VH1 and the lady said she forgave him and really just wants it to all end and doesn't think he needs to spend time in jail etc...

[PETA]

Originally Posted by david austin

and she doesnt even want anything more to come of it.

So what?

Victims don't get to decide if their victimizer gets prosecuted or not.

[Funkenstein]

Said this on another messageboard about this same matter:

"Don't do the crime if you can't do the time."

Lessons taught from watching Barretta.