Roman Polanski arrested (discuss)...

[madurobob]

Yeah, but he lived and shot alot of his movies in France, he shot "Oliver Twist" in the Czec Republic, "The Pianist" in Germany, " The Ninth Gate" in Portugal, he shot "Death and the Maiden" in Chile and Spain, for months on end. These kinds of productions take months to shoot and prepare, and scout, these countries couldn't get the paperwork in time?

He also apparently maintained a residence in Switzerland. They would have had no problem finding him. But apparently CA prosecutors requested this action last week:

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, confirmed that moves to detain the director were set in motion last week.

I have to wonder - why now? Is it just because of the relatively new extradition treaty? Sure, he committed a horrible crime and should do the time. But, is it worth spending the money and political capital on this guy right now? I'd like Polanski to show up and do his time, but I'd also like the CA DA to be focused on getting bad guys still committing crimes off the streets of CA. This Polanski affair seems more of a distraction in that regard than anything else.

So, I'm conflicted. I want him to rot in prison, but don't think we should expend any great effort to make it happen. I'd be OK right now with giving him the growing list of countries with extradition treaties with the US and telling him to just consider France as prison and not leave ever again.

 

[Cicero]

Or, in the case of OJ Simpson, a lying, racist cop.

Whose participation at the crime was by the book despite the pathetic attempts by Cochran/Bailey to accuse him of planting evidence. But why defend your obviously guilty client when you can put a cop on trial? That was the Cochran way.

 

[Cicero]

Gotta love Debra Winger's pleas to not fiddle while Roman burns.

"Debra Winger, who serves as president of the Zurich fest's jury, on Monday demanded Polanski's release and criticized Swiss authorities for their "philistine collusion" in arresting Polanski as he entered the country.

"This fledgling festival has been unfairly exploited, and whenever this happens the whole art world suffers," Winger said in a statement on Monday, standing together with the other four international jury members who wore red badges reading "Free Polanski" as they announced plans to continue the fest."


http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118009265.html?categoryid=10&cs=1

 

[johnny karate]

Classy stuff, Deb.

 

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

It was not consensual by any stretch of the imagination.

Firstly, a thirteen year old is not of the age of consent.

But, even had she been of the age of consent, she was drugged and then raped.

Exactly. This would probably have been a crime even if she was 18 or 17.

Heck, if she was 44 years old- the same age Polanski was- she'd still have a case against him for rape!

I saw some Swiss director who is apparently personal friends with Polanski on the news (CNN, I think) furiously defending him, saying that he was ashamed to be Swiss and yelling that "He's a genius!" and that "People around the world love his movies! He's brought joy to millions!". Hilarious argument.

Someone said that being talented and even great doesn't give one the right to rape little girls and to that I'd like to add: Chinatown is flawed, Repulsion is way overrated and The Pianist is very good but not great (though Rosemary's Baby is terrific if flawed in parts and Knife in the Water is excellent).

I'm not sure this guy is the great genius he is made out to be, though he certainly is very talented.

Not that that has anything to do with anything.

His talent has nothing to do with it.

His lack of talent has nothing to do with it.

He drugged and raped a 13-year-old.

 

[bozothedeathmachine]

Someone said that being talented and even great doesn't give one the right to rape little girls and to that I'd like to add: Chinatown is flawed, Repulsion is way overrated and The Pianist is very good but not great (though Rosemary's Baby is terrific if flawed in parts and Knife in the Water is excellent).

He should be put in jail for raping my eyes with The Ninth Gate.

 

[Eddie Dane]

He should be put in jail for raping my eyes with The Ninth Gate.

He should hang for that.

I wish I had been on ludes to cushion the impact of that turkey.

 

[Eddie Dane]

My prediction is that they'll put him under house arrest in Switzerland, pending the extradition procedure.

Then angry crowds will gather outside his house and drag him out of bed.
They'll lynch him on his own lawn and set fire to his corpse. Then They'll dance on his charred remains.

Put on your thinking caps people. There must be some way we can pin this crime on Michael Bay.

 

[TragicMonkey]

Gotta love Debra Winger's pleas to not fiddle while Roman burns.

"Debra Winger, who serves as president of the Zurich fest's jury, on Monday demanded Polanski's release and criticized Swiss authorities for their "philistine collusion" in arresting Polanski as he entered the country.

"This fledgling festival has been unfairly exploited, and whenever this happens the whole art world suffers," Winger said in a statement on Monday, standing together with the other four international jury members who wore red badges reading "Free Polanski" as they announced plans to continue the fest."


http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118009265.html?categoryid=10&cs=1

Dear Debra,

So, is it the quality of his movies or the quantity that makes it okay for him to rape children? Would you extend the same forgiveness to Uwe Boll, who's made a lot of bad movies? Or to John Waters, who's made a few good ones? Is just being in the industry enough, or do you have to be popular or successful in it as well?

And why is France okay with child rape but so fussy about schoolgirls wearing headscarves? Is it because the headscarves make them more difficult to rape?

Also, Debra, please don't conflate movies with "the art world". People will still know who Michelangelo was in a thousand years. I had to look you up online to find out what you'd been in. I was not very surprised to hear you'd had brain damage from an accident. Clearly the effects still linger.

Well, I've got a busy day ahead of me. It doesn't include child rape, because of course I'm not in "the biz". Oh well, you go ahead and rape my share of children for me, then, okay? You've "brought joy to millions", I'm sure. Although I did get you confused with Emma Thompson, so I don't know if you're quite famous enough. I guess that's for a film festival committee to decide after the fact.

Love always,
TragicMonkey

 

[let`s talk]

I have no idea what you're trying to say here.

Unlike the continental law system, the Anglo-Saxon legal system does not have a strict vertical procedure. As the result, the judge arranged a plea bargain, then reneged on it.

 

[let`s talk]

So, if you can evade the law long enough, you should just get away with your crimes?

It is called "Release from Criminal Responsibility in Connection with the Expiration of Statutes Limitation on Actions":

"-A person shall be released from criminal responsibility if the following time-limits have expired since the day of commission of a crime:
ten years after the commission of a grave crime;
fifteen years after the commission of an especially grave crime.
The periods of limitation shall not be applied to persons who have committed crimes against the peace and security of humankind."

...says the law of one of European countries.

In the US? No periods of limitation?

 

[timhau]

I have to say I'm pretty baffled by some of the quotes that i've heard coming out of france, both from members of the public and authority figures:

1. it was a long time ago, just forget it....

2. the prosecution reneged on a plea bargin deal so he was right to flee sentencing......

3. the girl in question just wants to move on with her life.......

4. he's a really talented director

5. it was part of the 60s/70s sexual revolution, these things happened back then....

6. it was the girls' mothers' fault. She wanted her daughter to have a part in his movies......

none of them seem to stand even the most cursory counter-argument, so is the general reaction in france really one of support? It seems pretty incredible if so. Those continentals....

I've also seen this:

7. It's America! You can't trust their legal system, they put poor people and blacks away for life for stealing a slice of pizza!

Of course, Polanski is not poor, not black, and not about to be given a life sentence. Furthermore, he didn't steal a slice of pizza, he had sex with a 13-year-old. None of that matters, of course, since America is evöl.

 

[Information Analyst]

IIRC it was no secret that he also had sex with Natassja Kinski (sp?) when she was 13. Seems he has a thing for pubescent girls.

No, she was 15. At the time - as now - the ages of consent in France and Germany were 14 and 15 respectively.

 

[Flo]

It is called "Release from Criminal Responsibility in Connection with the Expiration of Statutes Limitation on Actions":

"-A person shall be released from criminal responsibility if the following time-limits have expired since the day of commission of a crime:
ten years after the commission of a grave crime;
fifteen years after the commission of an especially grave crime.
The periods of limitation shall not be applied to persons who have committed crimes against the peace and security of humankind."

...says the law of one of European countries.

In the US? No periods of limitation?

In Switzerland, no statute of limitation for sexual crimes against children since a popular vote in Dec. 2008 (in French). That may also explain why Polanski was arrested only now.

 

[Flo]

My prediction is that they'll put him under house arrest in Switzerland, pending the extradition procedure.

It's all over the Swiss media ... poor thing has refused to be extradited and demanded to be released on bail.

Then angry crowds will gather outside his house and drag him out of bed.
They'll lynch him on his own lawn and set fire to his corpse. Then They'll dance on his charred remains.

That's certainly not the way people do things in Gstaad, far too messy in a country where tidiness is a religion. The local authorities will rather blame the media for the bad publicity, some of his neighbors will do the same and shut themselves inside their properties, claiming they had no idea all along and he looked like a really nice guy (and spent a lot in their shop), others will still blame the media but claim they actually found him suspiscious all along. All will blame the USA for harassment (against them and Switzerland at large).

 

[let`s talk]

In Switzerland, no statute of limitation for sexual crimes against children since a popular vote in Dec. 2008 (in French). That may also explain why Polanski was arrested only now.

It is irrelevant. He didn`t commit a crime in Switzerland. His crime is under te US jurisdiction.

 

[timhau]

It is irrelevant. He didn`t commit a crime in Switzerland. His crime is under te US jurisdiction.

It's not irrelevant. By Swiss law, the country can only extradite convicts if the crime they're convicted of is also a crime under Swiss law.

 

[Flo]

It is irrelevant. He didn`t commit a crime in Switzerland. His crime is under te US jurisdiction.

It is very relevant. Switzerland has signed extradition agreements with the USA, and as Timhau has noted, the crime he has been convicted for is also a crime in Switzerland, and isn't covered by a statute of limitation anymore.

 

[Chaos]

I've also seen this:

7. It's America! You can't trust their legal system, they put poor people and blacks away for life for stealing a slice of pizza!

Of course, Polanski is not poor, not black, and not about to be given a life sentence. Furthermore, he didn't steal a slice of pizza, he had sex with a 13-year-old. None of that matters, of course, since America is evöl.

Not that I disagree with you on that, but look at it this way: Do the United States of America routinely extradit their own citizens to foreign countries whose judicial system has, on more than one occasion, practically been asking to be ridiculed?

 

[Aepervius]

Polanski's escapades must have been the inspiration for Ira Einhorn to flee to Europe in 1981 to escape prosecution for murdering Holly Maddux. After the French authorities arrested him in 1997, it took another four years before France would extradite him to the U.S.

As said earlier in the thread that is because there was NO extradition treaty before 1996, and it was only ratified end of 2001 start of 2002.

While i don't cry any tear on Polanski (except that procurator being able to lie and get away with it for a plea bargain should no be allowed IMHO).

On the other hand if France extradited somebody without having a written and ratified extradition treaty, I would be the first on the barricade. There is a reason for those treaty to exists.