Swiss Harbor Child Rapist

[Flagg]

MSNBC

Switzerland won't extradite Polanski to the U.S.
Film director faces sentencing over unlawful sex charge

GENEVA — Switzerland said Monday that it won't extradite Roman Polanski to the United States for sentencing on a charge of unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.

The Oscar-winning director of "Rosemary's Baby," "Chinatown" and "The Pianist" was accused of plying his victim with champagne and part of a Quaalude during a 1977 modeling shoot and raping her. He was initially indicted on six felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, child molesting and sodomy, but pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse.

What happened after that is a subject of dispute. The defense says the now deceased judge, Laurence J. Rittenband, had agreed in meetings with attorneys to sentence Polanski to a 90-day diagnostic study and nothing more. The judge later changed his mind and summoned Polanski for further sentencing — at which time he fled to his native France, attorneys say.

Polanski was arrested Sept. 26 as he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival.

The film director has been held in Switzerland since then on an extradition request made by U.S. authorities.

He was allowed to move from prison to his Alpine chalet in December pending the extradition decision.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

I'd say we should boycott them, but since their only exports are chocolate and Nazi gold it seems rather pointless.

[Stofsk]

My jaw is literally hanging open

[Solauren]

I'm not really surprised by this.

The reason being, if they were going to ship him off, they'd already have done it.

Alot of countries might have a problem shipping him off due to the ambigious circumstance with this case. Specifically the sentencing. What did the judge have in mind, and what was the original deal?

Personally, I'm for tossing him behind bars, seizing all his assets, banning his movies, and being done with it, but I can actually understand why the Swiss might be hesitant to ship him off.

[loomer]

Why exactly would you ban the man's movies? We don't ban Mein Kampf, we don't ban the music of murderers, or the films of known drug addicts. You might prevent him from receiving income from them, but banning them?

What possible fucking reason could there be for that?

[darthdavid]

Why exactly would you ban the man's movies? We don't ban Mein Kampf, we don't ban the music of murderers, or the films of known drug addicts. You might prevent him from receiving income from them, but banning them?

What possible fucking reason could there be for that?

Pedophiles are bad mmmkay? Think of the children...

[Elfdart]

Before any Americans climb up on their high horses about the Swiss, keep in mind that they at least jailed Polanski long enough to decide what they were going to do with him. Compare that to the blanket immunity given to kidnappers and torturers who forcibly inflicted their perverted desires on adolescents in Guantanamo, Bagram and the various "black sites" and have never spent a minute behind bars or in the dock, and the Swiss look like an Old West posse complete with hanging judge.

[CaiusWickersham]

From CNN

Switzerland will not send Oscar-winning filmmaker Roman Polanski to the United States to face sentencing for child sex charges, the Ministry of Justice announced Monday.

He is now free, the ministry said.

Polanski pleaded guilty in Los Angeles, California to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977 but fled to Europe before he was sentenced.

He was arrested in Switzerland last year and had been fighting extradition since then.

Switzerland was not making a decision about the severity of the charge or whether Polanski was guilty, Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said.

"It's not about qualifying the crime. That is not our job. It's also not about deciding over guilt or innocence," she said.

The Swiss rejected the American request because the United States did not supply all the legal records Switzerland requested, and because Polanski had a reasonable right to think he would not be arrested if he visited the country, she said.

U.S. prosecutors cannot apply again to Switzerland to have Polanski sent there, she said, but could apply to other countries to detain and extradite him.

The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on the Swiss rejection.

Polanski was 43 at the time he had unlawful sex with the girl. He is now 76.

Prosecutors dropped rape and other charges in exchange for his guilty plea.

But Polanski fled the country before he was sentenced after learning that the judge might not go along with the short jail term Polanski expected to get in exchange for his plea.

He has been a fugitive since 1978 and lived in France before his arrest.

Swiss authorities released the director from jail on $4.5 million bail in early December "pending extradition" to the United States.

Polanski's victim came forward long ago and has made her identity public, saying she was disturbed by how the criminal case had been handled.

Samantha Geimer, now in her 40s and a married mother of three, has called for the case to be tossed out.

Her attorney, Larry Silver, reiterated her position in December , saying details of the case harm her every time the story is in the news.

Defense attorneys also argued that prosecutors are ignoring the victim's wishes.

Polanski's attorney, Chad Hummel, has been pushing for Polanski to be sentenced without having to return to Los Angeles.

Prosecutors have vigorously opposed sentencing him in absentia.

In court papers filed in January, Deputy District Attorney David Walgren stated the reasons in no uncertain terms.

"The defendant is a fugitive," Walgren wrote. "A fugitive child rapist, who for 32 years has made a mockery of our criminal justice system, should not be given the power or authority to request anything of this court until he, the criminal, acknowledges this court's lawful authority by surrendering on his outstanding warrant."

Polanski won an Oscar for best director for the Holocaust drama "The Pianist," and was nominated for "Tess," "Chinatown," and the screenplay he wrote for "Rosemary's Baby."

So it's not just the Swiss being overly protective (he reasonably thought he wouldn't be arrested if he just visited?) but the USAO being sloppy in delivering paperwork. A clusterfuck all around.

[Gil Hamilton]

Countries refuse extraditing criminals all the time for various reasons. I don't see the outrage against the Swiss. It's not like Roman Polanski bombed an airliner aplus several nightclubs and Switzerland was holding on to him because the crimes he committed were against countries the Swiss don't like.

[Losonti Tokash]

And once again, Polanski demonstrates that all you need to do to escape justice is be rich enough to flee the country.

[Stofsk]

I'm curious what papers the court wanted to read before deciding to extradite, and why their absence was allowed given how much money these kind of proceedings would have eaten up. Of course, who cares, the guy's a convicted criminal who has been on the run. Isn't that a factor for consideration?

Man what a clusterfuck.

[Flagg]

Before any Americans climb up on their high horses about the Swiss, keep in mind that they at least jailed Polanski long enough to decide what they were going to do with him. Compare that to the blanket immunity given to kidnappers and torturers who forcibly inflicted their perverted desires on adolescents in Guantanamo, Bagram and the various "black sites" and have never spent a minute behind bars or in the dock, and the Swiss look like an Old West posse complete with hanging judge.

Fuck, I'd be happy to see them thrown in the woodchipper right alongside Quaalude Roman.

[Simon_Jester]

I'm curious what papers the court wanted to read before deciding to extradite, and why their absence was allowed given how much money these kind of proceedings would have eaten up. Of course, who cares, the guy's a convicted criminal who has been on the run. Isn't that a factor for consideration?

Man what a clusterfuck.

I think it's pretty common for countries to check and make sure the country asking for extradition is going to punish the accused fairly, and that justice would be served. The Swiss might want to review the court proceedings to make sure we had good evidence and so on, and if they had any problems with thep roceedings that would add to their reluctance to extradite Polanski.

[Stofsk]

The problem is he admitted his guilt. So I'm not sure what the problem is in that regards. There seems to be some issue with the likely sentencing process, which is what I gather from the above news articles. The problem is the guy's a convicted criminal. That's different from someone who's suspected of a crime but hasn't been tried yet (and thus extradition may need to be refused if the guy is unlikely to receive a fair trial or hearing), but for someone that has already been convicted? It seems hard to understand, unless they publish their reasons at a later date.

But on the flip side of it, if the court's main complaint was that the ones seeking the extradition had failed to provide them with the documents they requested, what the hell is going on with the procedure then? For fuck's sake, you'd think extraditing someone and remanding them and having their life totally stalled for half a year at least would be no big deal. And at the end of it all, what has the US got to show for itself? A big fat zero.

[MKSheppard]

And once again, Polanski demonstrates that all you need to do to escape justice is be rich enough to flee the country.

No no. It goes like this:

And once again, Polanski demonstrates that all you need to do to escape justice is be rich enough to flee the country for a country that refuses to extradite it's citizens for any reason; and it just so happens you have citizenship there.

Not a lot of countries meet that requirement.

[General Zod]

And once again, Polanski demonstrates that all you need to do to escape justice is be rich enough to flee the country.

No no. It goes like this:

And once again, Polanski demonstrates that all you need to do to escape justice is be rich enough to flee the country for a country that refuses to extradite it's citizens for any reason; and it just so happens you have citizenship there.

Not a lot of countries meet that requirement.

It helps if the country you're fleeing from has prosecutors too pigheaded to just hand over documents the extraditing country requests.

[NecronLord]

Before any Americans climb up on their high horses about the Swiss, keep in mind that they at least jailed Polanski long enough to decide what they were going to do with him. Compare that to the blanket immunity given to kidnappers and torturers who forcibly inflicted their perverted desires on adolescents in Guantanamo, Bagram and the various "black sites" and have never spent a minute behind bars or in the dock, and the Swiss look like an Old West posse complete with hanging judge.

Elfdart, please provide an apology to American posters who has expressed displeasure at this verdict unless you can defend the assertion that each individual stands in favour of immunity for such persons.

If you ware going to claim that someone has a double standard, you must provide evidence that they hold a double-standard. Most people here do not support the War on Terror Torturers. Condemning the Swiss government's behaviour (or the French) in this specific instance in no way leads to implicit support for the misdeeds of the United States Government elsewhere.

[Sarevok]

Samantha Geimer, now in her 40s and a married mother of three, has called for the case to be tossed out.

Her attorney, Larry Silver, reiterated her position in December , saying details of the case harm her every time the story is in the news.

Defense attorneys also argued that prosecutors are ignoring the victim's wishes.

This about sums up what I feel about this. Sometimes justice delayed is justice denied. Now many decades later there is nothing to be gained by reopening an old sore. Unless it can be proven that Polanski continues to be a sexual predator and threat to a children to this day what good will be done by jailing him ?

[Flagg]

Samantha Geimer, now in her 40s and a married mother of three, has called for the case to be tossed out.

Her attorney, Larry Silver, reiterated her position in December , saying details of the case harm her every time the story is in the news.

Defense attorneys also argued that prosecutors are ignoring the victim's wishes.

This about sums up what I feel about this. Sometimes justice delayed is justice denied. Now many decades later there is nothing to be gained by reopening an old sore. Unless it can be proven that Polanski continues to be a sexual predator and threat to a children to this day what good will be done by jailing him ?

A crime isn't just about the victim, it's about upholding society as a whole. He raped a child, he needs to repay society for his crime. I'm glad his victim has moved on with her life, but that doesn't mean this piece of shit gets to flout the law.

[MKSheppard]

Oh ho, no; we sent everything the swiss needed. They said that they could not be sure that we had made a mistake in our paperwork and used that to bullshit out of turning him over.

Ref the official Swiss Statement:

The 76-year-old French-Polish film director Roman Polanski will not be extradited to the USA. The freedom-restricting measures against him have been revoked. This announcement was made by Mrs. Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, head of the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police, in Berne on Monday. The reason for the decision lies in the fact that it was not possible to exclude with the necessary certainty a fault in the U.S. extradition request, although the issue was thoroughly examined. Moreover, also the principles of State action deriving from international public order were taken into account.

In the end though -- Polanski may be a free man; but he can no longer travel widely throughout Europe for fear of other countries taking us up on the offer of extradition.

Like for example, he wants to shoot a film in say Poland? Whats to say that the Polish Justice Ministry under orders from a fairly religious catholic president has Polanski arrested and hustled onto a waiting US military transport?

France is now really the only safe port for him since the 2005 US Arrest warrant went international; and now that at least one country (Switzerland) did initially make moves torwards executing that warrant.

[Losonti Tokash]

On the other hand, just because there is a warrant for his arrest does not mean the authorities will actually enforce it. From what I understand, Switzerland has had a warrant for his arrest since 2006 and only just acted last year. It's ridiculous.

[MKSheppard]

On the other hand, just because there is a warrant for his arrest does not mean the authorities will actually enforce it.

You're approaching this from the POV of someone who has not spent the last year or two under enforced house arrest with possible extradition to the US in chains -- he will be very careful about where he goes for the next five years at the least.

[Gil Hamilton]

A crime isn't just about the victim, it's about upholding society as a whole. He raped a child, he needs to repay society for his crime. I'm glad his victim has moved on with her life, but that doesn't mean this piece of shit gets to flout the law.

The child in question doesn't want it prosecuted anymore and typically that is good enough to drop a case. The only reason this hasn't been dropped is that the case is infamous. Let's face it, Polanski is never going to be extradited to the US for trial. He's elderly at this point and can easily spend the rest of his life in France, living comfortably.

In that case, all this is doing is hurting the victim. It's bad enough that Polanski raped her, she doesn't need to percolated through the media every few years with "Hey, this woman got drugged and poked by Roman Polanski in the 70s! He's still in Europe with little chance of ever standing! Here is the details of her story!". You aren't serving justice by doing that, all you are doing is punishing the victim. You can make self-righteous statements about "upholding society", but society ain't collapsing because Polanski ran to France. I've never heard of anyone raping a child and claiming they could get away with it because Polanski did. Have you?

If the victim wants it dropped, it should be dropped. Actually hurting someone innocent just to continue a grudge that is only going to be settled when Polanski dies comfortably in Europe in a few years isn't worth it.

[Losonti Tokash]

If the victim wants it dropped, it should be dropped.

Good luck prosecuting someone for domestic violence, then.

[Gil Hamilton]

Good luck prosecuting someone for domestic violence, then.

Context, mate. Most domestically abusive people actually have a chance of being caught. Roman Polanski has very little, so all this does is abuse the victim further.

[Erik von Nein]

There's also the problem of him needing to be prosecuted for fleeing before his sentence was carried out. That's another crime people seem to forget he's committed.