Roman Polanski detained in Zurich

[cate-lola]

m.j. maybe I didn't word my post right - I guess I meant my opinion to be general rather than specifically about this man. It doesn't matter to me if a person is famous or not - people have to answer for what they have done regardless I suppose of their state of mind at the time.

I feel sorry for the some of the things in his life too but does him 'not being able to think clearly' mean it's excusable to take that phase of his pain out on somebody else. If that was indeed the case.

And maybe the victims 'forgiving' him is more for her own benefit and quite rightly wanting to forget everything and move on with her life as an adult as best she can without this taking over all the time rather than an act of sympathy or condoning what he did to her.

Sorry to sound so serious btw, I didn't mean to start an argument before so just wanted to defend my comment.

 

[tigerrouge]

Being able to create art does not excuse any crimes that a person might commit in their lifetime. And any forgiveness or sense of peace that the victim now feels is outside of the issue of justice.

 

[ad041715]

You can run away from your problems for so long, but they're still gonna come back and bite you in the a** later.

 

[Chaky]

Roman Polanski in Swiss detention

Film director Roman Polanski has been taken into custody in Switzerland and faces extradition to the US for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

Mr Polanski, 76, was detained in Zurich on Saturday as he travelled from France to collect a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival. He is being held under a 2005 international alert issued by the US.

Mr Polanski has been to Switzerland before, but this time US authorities apparently knew of his trip in advance. A Swiss spokesman said the US would now have to make a formal extradition request. The director can contest his detention and any extradition decision in the Swiss courts, he added.

Mr Polanski's lawyer, Georges Kiejman, said he planned to challenge his client's arrest.

"We are going to try to lift the arrest warrant in Zurich," he told France Info radio. "The [extradition] convention between Switzerland and the United States is not very clear."

Mr Polanski fled the US in 1978 after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with an underage girl. He was initially indicted on six counts and faced up to life in prison. In recent years, he has tried to have the r*pe case dismissed, claiming the original judge, who is now dead, arranged a plea bargain but later reneged.

Earlier this year, Judge Peter Espinoza agreed there was misconduct by the judge in the original case, but said Mr Polanski must return to the US to apply for dismissal. Mr Polanski's lawyers said he would not return to the US because he would be immediately arrested as a fugitive.

The victim at the centre of the case, Samantha Geimer, has previously asked for the charges to be dropped, saying the continued publication of details "causes harm to me, my husband and children". She has also called the court's insistence that Mr Polanski appear in person "a cruel joke".

'Shock and dismay'

The Paris-born Polish filmmaker - who is also a French citizen - has not set foot in the US for more than 30 years. His Oscar for directing 2002 film The Pianist was collected by Harrison Ford, who had previously starred in his 1988 thriller, Frantic.

France's culture minister said he was "dumbfounded" by Mr Polanski's detention in Switzerland. Frederic Mitterrand said he "strongly regrets that a new ordeal is being inflicted on someone who has already experienced so many of them". He added that French President Nicolas Sarkozy was "following the case with great attention and shares the minister's hope that the situation can be quickly resolved".

The organisers of the Zurich Film Festival said Polanski's detention had caused "shock and dismay", but that they would go ahead with a planned retrospective of the director's work. A special ceremony is planned for Sunday night "to allow everyone to express their solidarity for Roman Polanski and their admiration for his work", festival managers said in a statement.

Meanwhile, British author Robert Harris - who had been working with Mr Polanski on a film adaptation of his novel The Ghost - said he was taken aback by the weekend's events.

"One of the reasons I'm absolutely shocked and stunned by his arrest is that we have worked together extensively in Switzerland, where he has a home," Harris said. "If he was such a wanted criminal why did they let him own a house and travel back and forth freely?"

But justice officials in both Switzerland and the US said the difference this time was that Washington had sent a provisional arrest warrant. William Sorukas, chief of the US Marshals Service's domestic investigations branch, told the Associated Press that investigators learned about the trip days in advance and were therefore able to prepare for an arrest.

"There have been other times through the years when we have learned of his potential travel but either those efforts fell through or he didn't make the trip," he said.

BBC News

 

[MulletProof]

I think the case is too complex to take sides, I do feel bad for his family and the family of the victim, having to go through this after all these years and being in the center of a story that deeply harmed the people they love before they were even born.

 

[fashion tyger]

i am female, i know what being raped means. and it's the worst thing that could happend. but we re not the ones to judge him.
u all talk about examples... well, when heath leadger died no one said a single bad thing about him. he even got the oscar. and he was an addict. do u see my point?

No, I don't see your point.....I'm not trying to argue or say your wrong I just don't see your point cuz you didn't explain it very well.

 

[pucci_mama]

Being good at your art does not make you God he should pay for what he did

 

[Mary-Anne]

Though I agree no one should judge another man, you can judge his actions -- which were wrong and against the law. I don't see why he needs to be an exception, even if you have respect or compassion for him in other arenas of his life.

 

[Label Basher]

he is roman polanski. he could have any girl. why would he r*pe some wannabe???

I'm sorry but you can't say something like this when the subject is r*pe.

---

Update of sorts

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.

So he won't be going to the US anytime soon.

As well as sympathy for the victim what about his children. His daughter is 15/16 and his son is 11. I can't imagine what they are going through right now. You would want to hide if this was your father.

 

[Spiral1532]

I heard about this on the news today, and it made me sad, as Roman is my absolute favorite movie director.
If the girl (who is now a grown woman) already forgave him for what he did (and even asked for the charges against Roman to be dropped), it seems kind of silly to me that they'd go after him 32 years after the incident in question occurred. ***Edited for political talk.***
And besides, I can think of other celebrities who did something awful and actually got away with it.

 

[tigerrouge]

As if anyone's age undoes a deed.

From what some articles seem to be quoting, it appears the victim's forgiveness is part-motivated by shame and annoyance at being part of this unresolved situation. But the case wouldn't be a running sore if he made some effort to face the music. It's not as if anyone's going to cut his head off, and given his position in society and the time that's passed, chances are they would show clemency of a sort.

 

[t-rex]

I heard about this on the news today, and it made me sad, as Roman is my absolute favorite movie director.
If the girl (who is now a grown woman) already forgave him for what he did (and even asked for the charges against Roman to be dropped), it seems kind of silly to me that they'd go after him 32 years after the incident in question occurred. ***Edited***
And besides, I can think of other celebrities who did something awful and actually got away with it.

So if decades have passed, it makes the crime he committed (by the way, he drugged, raped and sodomized a thirteen-year-old girl) okay? Regardless of what the victim says, it is the law he pay for what he did, she and her family deserve justice not just for the crime, but also for all the stress he put on them for the past thirty years.

Of course celebrities get off on their own crimes a lot, but does that make it right? Because they get away with it, he can? The logic here from you r*pist sympathizers enrages and dumbfounds me.

 

[LUXXX]

Update of sorts

So he won't be going to the US anytime soon.

If his lawyers were good enough at keeping him from getting caught all these years, I'm not surprised to hear that they will fight. If he does come back to LA courts, it will be a CIRCUS.

 

[Working Girl]

I want him to be someones b*tch in prison. We all know how much inmates love child predators. But it won't happen.

 

[Label Basher]

The victim has NOT said she has forgiven him. I wish people would stop saying that.

She said something like the attention of the case is horrible and stressful for her and her family when it keeps being brought up again and again. She just wants the whole thing to go away but never said I forgive him for what he did to me.

 

[fashion tyger]

When Polanski was nominated and the whole debate started again I remember having dicussions with groups of people and some actually said things like "she wanted it",and "she came on to him".....These were the kind of people who would never condone something like this but because it is someone they admire well.....I really don't know much about this case but I do remember those discussions and it certainly didn't sound anything like the facts some posters have brought to light. I thought this was about some young girl who was obsessed with Polanski and was chasing him around till he finally gave in.....That's my fault, instead of just listening to people I should have found out the facts.

 

[Label Basher]

France has condemned the arrest in Switzerland of film director Roman Polanski, who has French citizenship.

Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said he had been "stunned" to hear about the arrest, and President Nicolas Sarkozy was following the case. Mr Polanski, 76, faces extradition to the US for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles in 1977.

The Paris-born Polish filmaker was detained in Zurich on Saturday as he travelled to a film festival. He is being held under a 2005 international alert issued by the US. A Swiss spokesman said the US would now have to make a formal extradition request.

Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said that because of agreements with the US, "when Mr Polanski arrived we had no choice from a legal point of view but to arrest him".

"He obviously has the right to appeal and I think he will do so," she added. 'Never showed up'.

Mr Mitterrand's office said the culture minister "strongly regrets that a new ordeal is being inflicted on someone who has already experienced so many of them".

Mr Polanski fled the US in 1978 after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with an underage girl.

CASE TIMELINE
1977 - Polanski admits unlawful sex with Samantha Geimer, 13, in Los Angeles
1978 - flees to Britain after US arrest warrant is issued
1978 - immediately moves to France where he holds citizenship
1978 - settles in France, where he is protected by France's limited extradition with US
2008 - Polanski's lawyer demands case be dismissed and hearing moved out of LA court
2009 - Polanski's request to have hearing outside LA is denied

He was initially indicted on six counts and faced up to life in prison.
The filmmaker has not set foot in the US for more than 30 years.

In recent years, he has tried to have the r*pe case dismissed, claiming the original judge, who is now dead, arranged a plea bargain but later reneged.
Mr Polanski has been to Switzerland before, but this time US authorities apparently knew of his trip in advance.

That gave them time to prepare the groundwork for his arrest and send a provisional arrest warrant to Swiss authorities, judicial officials said.

In the past, Mr Polanski had heard in advance about requests for his arrest on planned trips, and had changed his plans, said Sandi Gibbons, the Los Angeles district attorney's office spokeswoman.

"He never showed up in the country where he was supposed to be, and he was never arrested," she said.

The victim at the centre of the case, Samantha Geimer, has previously asked for the charges to be dropped.

BBC News.co.uk

 

[silk skin paws]

My goodness perhaps we shouldn't put celebrities on pedestals . Some of my favorite artists have done or said some terrible things that I completely disagree with. I'd never defend them or try to rationalize their actions. I just choose to admire the art, not the person.

 

[Cammy]

I agree if this man had no fame or artistic credit to his name. No one would care. Peadophilia is never acceptable especially since he drugged her and gave her alcohol, it means it was pre-meditated and not even something that just suddenly struck him. Its sick. I also dont think it matters if she forgave him, his act is still criminal. Im not saying that detaining him now, suddenly is the right thing to do because i havent really read much about it. Im meerly commenting on some peoples remarks about it not being a big deal because he has amazing movies.

 

[eternitygoddess]

he is roman polanski. he could have any girl. why would he r*pe some wannabe???

****Edited. Please show respect towards other members, when disagreeing. ***

Most r*pists don't r*pe because they can't get girls. They r*pe because they enjoy exerting dominance over their unwilling victim; they derive a sick pleasure from it. Most r*pists aren't ugly trolls, but decent-looking people who may even have girlfriends or wives.