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UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times reported this morning that LA prosecutors planned Roman Polanski’s arrest in Switzerland after learning he would be accepting a film festival award in Zurich. Prosecutors sent a provisional arrest warrant to the U.S. Justice department which presented it Swiss authorities.
News outlets report that Roman Polanski was arrested by police in Switzerland today on a 31-year-old international warrant as he arrived at the Zurich airport to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Zurich Film Festival. (The organizers expressed “great consternation and shock”.) The Swiss Federal Justice Department was holding the 76-year-old Oscar-winning director in provisional detention while preparations were made to possibly extradite him to Los Angeles to face that 1978 arrest warrant following his conviction of drugging and having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old minor in the home of Jack Nicholson. Facing a prison term, Polanski fled the United States just before his sentencing. But in the ensuing time, the girl, Samantha Geimer, has publicly forgiven him, and, with Hollywood’s backing, lawyers have tried over the years to get the case dismissed as recently as last year, arguing among other things that he was psychologically shattered after his wife Sharon Tate was killed by the Manson family. Also cited has been a documentary called Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired showing what Polanski’s attorneys have said was “a pattern of misconduct and improper communications” among Los Angeles officials regarding the case. In Paris, where Polanski fled and now lives, the French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand said in a statement that he was “astonished” by the arrest.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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So, in other words, it’s ok that Polanski drugged and raped a 13 year old?
I cannot believe what I am hearing from people and movie stars as we call them about this man… He took the innocents of a child and raped her!! WTF is going on in this world that people would state that he has served his time and should be allowed to go free and the victim to say to let him be…How much did they pay her? Rpman Ploanski is a pig and he should serve time in the US where real men do not hurt children…
This is a waste of time. This girl already settle out of court, Polanski has not been accused of other similar crimes to consider him an offender, this should be dismissed rather than waste tax payers money on a case which nothing good could possibly come out. Why would anyone besides this girl want to see Polanski in jail?? And she doesn’t want that!
She settled a civil lawsuit. The people should want a criminal in jail. Why would anyone want him in jail? He sexually abused a child. Anyone with children would want him in prison. It has nothing to do with what that victim wants. Here, the government should protect the public from a convicted predator.
Right on. Don’t get me started with the rich and famous getting off easy every time. He did the crime, he should do the time.
Rape is rape. The Hollywood comments are sickening. He ran because he didn’t want to go to prison. Now, he is caught. Bring him back and put him in prison. Where is the misunderstanding/problem?
fantastic. now he can get his skinny midget self in jail to do the time california sentenced him too. viva the swiss. do they immigration?
Now that is an interesting headline.
About time, Now which Hollywood “citizen” will come out in defense of a child rapist.
correct me if i got my history wrong but
it’s ironic that Switzerland was a haven for those
escaping the nazis yet becomes a set up for someone
who escaped the nazis earlier in his life.
btw,
if the victim “forgives” him, i would think she will not testify
or are the prosecutors going after him with information taken at that time.
not that i’m saying what he did wasn’t wrong but it’s interesting that the same prosecuting “team”, if you will, that couldn’t convict O.J. and botched the Rodney King trial is so obsessed with this case. only in America?
He already plead guilty to one count of sexual assault. He fled before he was to be sentenced.
Actually he pled guilty to sex with a minor to avoid other charges relating to the fact that he gave her ludes as well. So he already pled guilty and fled before he went to jail.
If an eight year old forgives someone for raping her after she grows up, that does not
exonerate a person of fornicating an eight year old! And the same goes for a thirteen year old.
Whether the guy runs away for 30 years or not. That just makes him a fugitive of the law, as well as
a pedophile and rapist! He has had all this time living as free man. If justice had been served he would have been behind bars all of this time.
Good. I’m glad they got this pervert. Just because he’s a talented director, he’s supposed to be above the law. Impaired mental state over the murder of his wife? Gimme a break. Roman had a long history of boffing teenage girls. And Hollywood, once again showing its high moral values, went running to his door to do movies for him even while he was a fugitive from justice. The girl forgiving him is meaningless. She was paid off. The state is obligated to prosecute crime regarless of what the victim says. I hope he gets time in county.
Bury him next to Michael Jackson.
LOL – that’s a good one.
So when Polanski gets to LA will they make him watch all the bad awards shows he missed? Or will they sentence him to 42 months in jail and let him go in 4 hours?
“Roman Polanski Double-Crossed By Swiss”
Double-Crossed?
Isn’t it the job of the Police to arrest rapists?
Presumably, but it is of worthwhile noting that Polanski has been visiting Switzerland for many years without being arrested. In fact he owns a residence in Switzerland where he goes during the ski season. In other words why arrest him for going to Switzerland now and not all of those other times when he has gone there.
AHAHAHAHA! LOL! Obama, bringing justice to rich pedophiles as well as poor. Thank you Obama, you restore my faith in government.
What does Obama have to do with this? Nothing.
“But in the ensuing time, the girl, Samantha Geimer, has publicly forgiven him”
She also sued him for an undisclosed terms of which the settlement allegedly consisted of two amounts – one amount from Polanski for no public statement of forgiveness or an amount twice as large for a statement of forgiveness from the victim.
The Swiss didn’t “double-cross” this child ass rapist. The Swiss have recently begun to cooperate with international law enforcement (e.g., turning over account information to the IRS that will also be used to pursue those who squirreled away assets for other reasons than tax fraud like divorce, bankruptcy, etc.) It’s all a part of a new Switzerland that has begun to respect the laws of other countries.
Welcome to America, Polanski.
How much has 31 years of this cost California taxpayers at this point. I’d like to know.
J.
I agree. And we when we have that total, we bill Polanski for those costs.
-D
This is nice and all, but you know what we really want to know is where is this week’s box office report. Come on Nikki, you know we count on you and wait breathlessly for your Fri/Sat/Sun updates.
I hope they throw the book at him. Sure–this happened ages ago. Sure–the victim wants to move on with her life all these years later. Sure–maybe there were some inappropriate dealings with the lawyers (though we don’t know for sure). But none of this changes the fact that this guy drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl! There is no dispute with that. And I am continually shocked and dismayed by those in Hollywood who seek to drop this. Why? Because he’s a great filmmmaker and an Oscar winner? Because he fled the country and managed to evade capture for years? Why should this man be any different from any other lowball scum who committed such a heinous crime? Sure, he had a tough life, with his experiences in Poland and as a victim of the Manson killer. But so too have plenty of people in jail had hard-knock lives with awful things happening around them or to them when they were young.
That doesn’t change a thing. The guy committed a heinous crime, and then he fled. He should be punished to the maximum for both. I cringe looking at Harrison Ford acting like his buddy; how can you be buddies with a pedophile and rapist, how can you even look at this person without wanting to spit at him?
Enduring psychological trauma should not give a person a free pass to commit a crime. And any lawyer who is suggesting that is disgusting.
And just because a victim forgives the attacker does not mean the attacker should be allowed to escape punishment for breaking the law.
Reading this post as an outsider looking in (not in the entertainment business or a Hollywood-resident), I’m wondering if all of Hollywood regularly makes excuses for rapists like this or if this is just a single case of everyone losing their collective minds.
Either way, I’m shocked by the tone of this blog post.
There are several other people on here who are not making excuses for him & feel he should be tried. Hollywood is not a thing with one viewpoint; it’s an industry made up of thousands of individuals who I’m sure all have differing opinions on this subject.
Anyone who supports this guy needs to get some sense.
He ruffeed and raped a 13 year old. End of story. He would have done 5 years in jail and it would have been over. But, because people placate him and he’s a coward–he’s run forever–and thinks that just because it’s been awhile…I paid her off..these crimes don’t count.
He’s run for awhile….and he looks dapper, distinguished, and everyone has forgiven him right???
Sorry, to upset your current marriage and personal life..and your lifetime achievement….you shouldn’t have done the deed and spent 30 years avoiding this day. To quote Alec Baldwin–”your a thoughtless little pig”. Period. A coward and a spoiled sissy.
Lifetime Achievent Award, Ha, what a loser!!!!!!!!!!!!
If Mr. Polanski and his camp want to have his guilty verdict set aside, he should have come back to the US and gone through the proper channels instead of having his surrogates in Hollywood treat the legal process as if it were some kind of campaign by making biased movies about his case.
I’m sure the Tate murder was awful for him, but it’s no excuse for what he did. As far as all these people campaigning for the case to be dropped – too bad. That’s not the way the law works. This case doesn’t interest me either way, but there have been some in the news I’ve given thought to. The reality is the law doesn’t care if we like an outcome or if we don’t agree with it, the law just is.
Bravo. Enough of these pervy old men. Talented filmmakers are no exception.
I’m a huge Polanski fan but I have to say that is a weak argument – him being shattered by his wife’s death, which occurred nearly 10 years before the incident. Polanski should have faced the music back in ’78. He could have also had his case reviewed and probably overturned. The fact is that he did wrong and should have manned up to his mistake and face the consequences. Hollywood still loves its celebrities, even when they go to jail.
But this was a bitch move by the Swiss. What’s next? Are they going to rat out all these billionaires who have their money stashed in their banks? Nice going Switzerland. And I thought you were cool but you turned out to be a narc.
Q: “But this was a bitch move by the Swiss. What’s next? Are they going to rat out all these billionaires who have their money stashed in their banks?”
A: Yes. This is already in motion.
It’s a bitch move to arrest a child rapist? Why because he’s rich and managed to be a fugitive of the
law? Talk to me after your child is raped by an adult, DISGUSTING!!!!
Good. I’m glad his victim was able to forgive him and find peace, but that doesn’t mean he should go free for drugging and raping children. Go Switzerland!
Child. Not children.
Nikki, I hardly think your headline “double-crossed by the Swiss” is fair. He has for years avoided travel to countries that might extradite him, this time he screwed up, and with all the recent US/Swiss legal troubles over tax cheats, stupidly so.
Let’s not romanticize what he did: Polanski pleaded guilty and went on the run, that in and of itself is a crime the rest of us without rich Hollywood friends, would not get away with, before we even get to the raping of a 13 year-old girl (legally unable to give consent to a 44 year old man). The Tate excuse is a nice theory but I’m sure there are plenty of men whose wives have been unfortunately murdered and don’t decide to rape 13 year old girls five years after the fact.
Personally I suspect the rest of his life will be spent behind bars, and deservedly so.
What deal with the devil have the Swiss made? Anyone who knows this case knows that the publicity seeking, ego maniacal, judge (who was also known as an incompetent boob) acted improperly, lied and then reneged on a legal agreement (if someone had done that with him, he would have thrown the book at the them). The girl involved in the case (now a woman in her forties) has forever maintained that the press coverage is far more embarrassing than the incident itself and has always wanted the case quietly dismissed against Polanski. But since the Christian Taliban have effectively taken the bulk of the US courts, perceived morals transgressions (even cases over thirty years old) demand that the “evil ones” be burned at the stake, or the next best thing that is allowable under the law.
Anyone who’s paid attention to the idiocy and nonsense in the US the past number of years is not too surprised by these hysterical witch hunts (though this case makes even the most cynical critic drop his jaw in disbelief) but for the comparatively free and level-headed Swiss to be aiding and abetting in this absurd idiocy makes one wonder what ugly backdoor deal the Swiss authorities have made and for what reason. Perhaps it has something to do with the demand from the current US administration for the Swiss government to release confidential bank information on private customers, a violation even the Swiss government doesn’t demand of its banks. The excuse that the US is looking for “tax evaders” rings quite false, unless the authorities view not getting their payoffs as the gravest of crimes, considering criminals of all ilk have forever used off shore banking to hide the most heinously obtained funds. Regardless of the “justification” it’s just more of the US’ empire building.
Where are all the previous administration’s critics? I was no fan of the war mongering and other crimes committed then and have seen no reason to suddenly view the new administration’s continuation and expansion of those same crimes as suddenly okay. Partisanship is such an obscene joke, the gullible public falls for the ruse while the criminal empire continues to expand.
Well said zflynn. This feels as if it is a smokescreen for the big picture behind the scenes. The Swiss are always neutral even in wartime. But follow the money. And if there is a trail leading to big money finding its way to Switzerland and that trail is getting hot what a great diversion to have this Polanski thing as a juicy diversion. I’d look deeper into the 6 degrees of separation of Phil Gramm, Glass Steagall repeal, UBS Investment Bank, Vice President, Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, Enron… all linking back to mega-bucks moved to Switzerland… whats really happening behind those scenes? Yes, I’ve been reading Engdahl but now he’s starting to make sense. I can just see Eric Holder smacking his lips over this one. Imagine the kudos… Also what a great cover and a great time to slip by an un-popular health care plan. Whoops… 1/6th of the economy just got spent and we were watching the replay of a 31 year old case.
He drugged and raped a 13 year old child. Please keep that in mind while you keep on your apologist propoganda.
@zflynn:
“Anyone who knows this case knows that the publicity seeking, ego maniacal, judge (who was also known as an incompetent boob) acted improperly, lied and then reneged on a legal agreement (if someone had done that with him, he would have thrown the book at the them).”
That’s not “known” at all. It’s all rumor and hearsay, not provable fact. Or rather, it would have been provable fact in a court of law if Polanski had stayed in the country and appealed. Instead, he ran. Now the judge in question is dead, which makes proving any allegations of judicial malfeasance a LOT harder.
“The girl involved in the case (now a woman in her forties) has forever maintained that the press coverage is far more embarrassing than the incident itself and has always wanted the case quietly dismissed against Polanski.”
Too bad. Because what Polanski did–and don’t forget, he CONFESSED that he drugged and raped a 13-year old girl–was a felony, a crime against the state.
That’s why it’s called The STATE vs. Roman Polanski, to ensure that the wishes of a rape victim not thinking clearly because of the stress/trauma brought on by the attack, the investigation, and any ensuing media circus don’t get in the way of justice being served.
Lots of woman and girls who’ve been raped “just want to put it behind” them, if it means not being mocked by others, told that they’re whores, or told they must’ve done something to deserve it. Rapists count on that “just forget about it” attitude from victims to get away with more rapes.
“But since the Christian Taliban have effectively taken the bulk of the US courts, perceived morals transgressions….”
“Perceived moral transgressions?!” THE MAN DRUGGED AND RAPED A THIRTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL, AND CONFESSED TO IT IN A COURT OF LAW. According to the letter of the law, REGARDLESS OF MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES, a girl aged 13 in the state of California in 1977 is deemed TOO YOUNG TO GIVE CONSENT. Thus, the case is most certainly RAPE. NOT “perceived moral transgressions”.
Read her grand jury testimony. Go ahead:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskicover1.html
“…demand that the “evil ones” be burned at the stake, or the next best thing that is allowable under the law.”
The whole point of dragging Polanski back to the US to face up to what he’s done is not to keep the streets safe. The point is that drugging and raping a child, then leaving the country before you can be sentenced for it, is behavior our society should not — and at least in theory, does not — tolerate, no matter how wealthy or well-connected you are, no matter what your victim says about it thrity years after the fact, no matter how mature she looked at 13, no matter whether she was a virgin when you raped her or not, no matter how pushy her mother was, and no matter how many classic films you’ve made.
Nice diatribe but let’s just translate what you are saying – because there are much more hideous criminals in the world, it is a witch hunt and horribly wrong to arrest a man who drugged and raped a 13 year old girl. Is that what you really believe? Oh – and by the way – he was well known to be pursuing teenagers at the time so this wasn’t even an isolated incident. Doesn’t that make him a pedophile and a predator? But you think this is ok?>
Hell yeah, you’re 100% right.
He’s a god damn celebrity. He SHOULD be able to drug and rape little girls. And so what if he plead guilty then ran away. He’s a celebrity!!! (and maybe attached to your next film).
btw, have any kids? I got some pedophiles who’d looooovveee to come visit. I assure you they’re not Christian Taliban.
Anyone who knows the case knows that he drugged and raped and sodomized a 13 year old girl.
Anyone who knows the case knows he knew she was 13.
Anyone who knows the case knows he gave her drugs and alcohol. A 13 year old.
Anyone who knows the case knows he pled guilty, plea bargained to the lesser charge, then fled the country before sentencing.
Read the Grand Jury testimony. Read his plea agreement.
What he did would be a crime regardless of how old the victim was, but to do that to someone he knew was only 13 is beyond disgusting. How anyone can support him in this is beyond my comprehension.
Actually, it was a lifetime SENTENCE award, he just missed the fine print.
I like his films but we cannot have double standards for such a vile acts, time to pay the piper!
Criminals aren’t ‘double-crossed’ by law enforcement. They’re ‘caught’. Should he be above the law because he makes good movies? Or is that a silly question.
What a joke. Leave Polanski alone. Shouldn’t the government be working on catching Osama?