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Close Topic OptionsRoman Polanski - Page 6 of 6
Shame on the Swiss authorities! They - Page 6 - Politics, Business, Civil, History - Posted: 21st Jul, 2010 - 2:18am
Posts: 44 - Views: 2752
Raped 13 year old then fled the US
Roman Polanski - Page 6
I couldn't believe what I was reading!
You kind of tend to assume that celebrities/actors are that little bit better of a human being, and then you come back down with a jolt when you realize that even in the celebrity world you can still get the sick predators.
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Polanski Roman
Something really smells bad with this one...
QUOTE The Swiss authorities have decided not to extradite film director Roman Polanski to the United States to face prosecution in a 1977 sex case.
The 76-year old Oscar-winning director, who was arrested last September in Zurich and had been under house arrest in Switzerland, is a free man, according to Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf.
The US has expressed its disappointment over the move.
Widmer-Schlumpf said the decision had been taken following Washington's refusal to give access to confidential documents.
"In these circumstances it was not possible to exclude with the necessary certainty that Roman Polanski had already served the sentence to which he was condemned at the time," Widmer-Schlumpf told a news conference in the capital, Bern, on Monday.
She added that Switzerland had also decided against extradition because Polanski had been coming to the country in good faith for years. Switzerland had sought access to the records of a hearing by a Los Angeles public prosecutor, Roger Gunson, who was in charge of the case in the 1970s.
Polanski, who had pleaded guilty to unlawful s-xual intercourse at the time, claimed he feared that a judge might put him in jail for 50 years in violation of a plea bargain. Initially the justice authorities had apparently agreed to drop other charges, including r-pe and s-d-my, in exchange for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation from which Polanski was released early.
The director, who holds French and Polish citizenship, fled the US on the eve of his sentencing. He has lived as a fugitive in Europe ever since and bought a chalet in the Swiss mountain resort of Gstaad in 2006.
" This is not about qualifying a crime. This is not about deciding on guilt or innocence. "
She added that Switzerland had not acted under pressure and her decision was not linked to political issues, notably to a deal with the US over the UBS bank in a tax dispute, or to an agreement to grant asylum to two inmates from Guantánamo prison on humanitarian grounds earlier this year.
Widmer-Schlumpf said she did not expect Washington to appeal against the decision internationally or for bilateral relations to be tarnished as a result.
The US authorities have accepted the legal conclusions, said the minister.
She added that she was confident that the American public would understand the Swiss decision. "The US have a similar system, notably where basic rights are involved," said the minister.
Compensation?
Polanski could file for financial compensation, having spent a short stint in jail after his arrest last September before he was put under house arrest in his Gstaad chalet. He also had to deposit SFr4.5 million ($4.2 million) for bail.
However, Widmer-Schlumpf considers a compensation payment rather unlikely.
The justice minister also said she stood by the arrest of Polanski - on a US warrant - upon his arrival at the international film festival in Zurich last September where he was due to receive a lifetime achievement award. It had not been confirmed on Monday evening whether Polanski was still in Gstaad, although journalists at the scene had reported that the filmmaker had left.
Relief and disappointment
Monday's announcement follows months of uncertainty over whether Polanski would have to return to the US. Speaking through one of his lawyers, Herve Temime, Polanski thanked all those who had supported him. The film director does not want to comment directly on the case, Temime said. For her part, Polanski's wife, actress and singer Emmanuelle Seigner, told the AFP news agency in a statement that her husband's release was, 'the end of a nightmare lasting more than nine months". French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he had contacted his Swiss counterpart Micheline Calmy-Rey to express his "great relief". Poland has also thanked Switzerland for its "clever decision".
However, US Department of State spokesman Philip Crowley said on Monday that the US was "disappointed" over the outcome of the Polanski case. He said the country would continue to seek justice in the affair and would evaluate its options. In Los Angeles, District Attorney Steve Cooley, whose office has fought for years to have Polanski returned, said authorities would seek extradition again, "if he's arrested in a cooperative jurisdiction".
Film industry pleased
Polanski's arrest had prompted an outcry in the global film industry.
Representatives of the Swiss film world, including Frederic Maire of the Swiss Film Archive, have welcomed the film director's release. He said the government had proved its independence from Washington, according to the Swiss News Agency. Swiss filmmakers had described Polanski's arrest as "not only a grotesque farce of justice, but also an immense cultural scandal".
Urs Geiser, swissinfo.ch and agencies
The 76-year old Oscar-winning director, who was arrested last September in Zurich and had been under house arrest in Switzerland, is a free man, according to Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf.
The US has expressed its disappointment over the move.
Widmer-Schlumpf said the decision had been taken following Washington's refusal to give access to confidential documents.
"In these circumstances it was not possible to exclude with the necessary certainty that Roman Polanski had already served the sentence to which he was condemned at the time," Widmer-Schlumpf told a news conference in the capital, Bern, on Monday.
She added that Switzerland had also decided against extradition because Polanski had been coming to the country in good faith for years. Switzerland had sought access to the records of a hearing by a Los Angeles public prosecutor, Roger Gunson, who was in charge of the case in the 1970s.
Polanski, who had pleaded guilty to unlawful s-xual intercourse at the time, claimed he feared that a judge might put him in jail for 50 years in violation of a plea bargain. Initially the justice authorities had apparently agreed to drop other charges, including r-pe and s-d-my, in exchange for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation from which Polanski was released early.
The director, who holds French and Polish citizenship, fled the US on the eve of his sentencing. He has lived as a fugitive in Europe ever since and bought a chalet in the Swiss mountain resort of Gstaad in 2006.
" This is not about qualifying a crime. This is not about deciding on guilt or innocence. "
She added that Switzerland had not acted under pressure and her decision was not linked to political issues, notably to a deal with the US over the UBS bank in a tax dispute, or to an agreement to grant asylum to two inmates from Guantánamo prison on humanitarian grounds earlier this year.
Widmer-Schlumpf said she did not expect Washington to appeal against the decision internationally or for bilateral relations to be tarnished as a result.
The US authorities have accepted the legal conclusions, said the minister.
She added that she was confident that the American public would understand the Swiss decision. "The US have a similar system, notably where basic rights are involved," said the minister.
Compensation?
Polanski could file for financial compensation, having spent a short stint in jail after his arrest last September before he was put under house arrest in his Gstaad chalet. He also had to deposit SFr4.5 million ($4.2 million) for bail.
However, Widmer-Schlumpf considers a compensation payment rather unlikely.
The justice minister also said she stood by the arrest of Polanski - on a US warrant - upon his arrival at the international film festival in Zurich last September where he was due to receive a lifetime achievement award. It had not been confirmed on Monday evening whether Polanski was still in Gstaad, although journalists at the scene had reported that the filmmaker had left.
Relief and disappointment
Monday's announcement follows months of uncertainty over whether Polanski would have to return to the US. Speaking through one of his lawyers, Herve Temime, Polanski thanked all those who had supported him. The film director does not want to comment directly on the case, Temime said. For her part, Polanski's wife, actress and singer Emmanuelle Seigner, told the AFP news agency in a statement that her husband's release was, 'the end of a nightmare lasting more than nine months". French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he had contacted his Swiss counterpart Micheline Calmy-Rey to express his "great relief". Poland has also thanked Switzerland for its "clever decision".
However, US Department of State spokesman Philip Crowley said on Monday that the US was "disappointed" over the outcome of the Polanski case. He said the country would continue to seek justice in the affair and would evaluate its options. In Los Angeles, District Attorney Steve Cooley, whose office has fought for years to have Polanski returned, said authorities would seek extradition again, "if he's arrested in a cooperative jurisdiction".
Film industry pleased
Polanski's arrest had prompted an outcry in the global film industry.
Representatives of the Swiss film world, including Frederic Maire of the Swiss Film Archive, have welcomed the film director's release. He said the government had proved its independence from Washington, according to the Swiss News Agency. Swiss filmmakers had described Polanski's arrest as "not only a grotesque farce of justice, but also an immense cultural scandal".
Urs Geiser, swissinfo.ch and agencies
As they say, he had been living and traveling through Switzerland for many years. They had ample opportunities to exercise the arrest warrant, but did so last year. Extradition is a political because governments are involved and there is no way that they can help but to do what they do...politics. I just cannot believe that this is actually true:
QUOTE She added that Switzerland had not acted under pressure and her decision was not linked to political issues, notably to a deal with the US over the UBS bank in a tax dispute, or to an agreement to grant asylum to two inmates from Guantánamo prison on humanitarian grounds earlier this year.
While I firmly believe that access to documents were not granted by the US, that is not the prime reason that Polanski was not shipped back to the US, because it was not the prime reason he was picked up in the first place.
To find the true answer as to why he was released, we really need to know why Switzerland actually arrested him in the first place since it had opted not to for so very long.
Plus, I am so happy to see that the film industry is pleased by the results. p-rn-graphy makes so much more sense now as I can see what a Icon is in the industry.
Edited: Vincenzo on 14th Jul, 2010 - 1:08amInternational Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 863 86.3%
Post Date: 14th Jul, 2010 - 1:32am / Post ID: #
Roman Polanski History & Civil Business Politics
It always comes down to money and politics. I guess him being such a great man in Europe with all his film credits they can over look him raping a few young under aged ladies. I guess that gets his creative juices running so he can produce the next block buster. Sad that those girls have to continue to suffer this way and not get closure.
TOPIC: Roman Polanski