Switzerland Will Not Extradite Polanski

[Sionnach Glic]

Switzerland rejects US extradition of Roman Polanski

Page last updated at 12:51 GMT, Monday, 12 July 2010 13:51 UK

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Roman Polanski Polanski was under house arrest but is now free to leave

Authorities in Switzerland have decided not to extradite film director Roman Polanski to the US to face sentencing for a case dating back to 1977.

Polanski, 76, has been under house arrest in his Swiss chalet since December 2009 pending the decision.

He is wanted in the US over a conviction for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said the "restrictions on his liberty have been lifted."

A Swiss official said the US cannot appeal the decision.

Polanski faces arrest over his conviction for unlawful sex with an underage girl in 1977 should he ever return to the United States.

The director, who was originally charged with six offences including rape and sodomy, pleaded guilty to unlawful sex following a plea bargain.

But he left the US in 1978, before he could be sentenced, and has never returned.

He was taken into custody in Switzerland in September last year as he travelled from France to collect a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival.

Polanski, whose films include Rosemary's Baby and The Pianist, was moved from prison and placed under house arrest at his chalet in the resort of Gstaad in early December.

'National interests'

The Swiss government declared Polanski a free man on Monday after rejecting the US extradition request.

The Swiss said US authorities failed to provide confidential testimony about Polanski's original sentencing procedure.

The Justice Ministry also said that national interests were taken into consideration in the decision.

A statement said: "The 76-year-old French-Polish film director Roman Polanski will not be extradited to the US.

"The freedom-restricting measures against him have been revoked."

It added: "The reason for the decision lies in the fact that it was not possible to exclude with the necessary certainty a fault in the US extraditionary request."

BBC

[Tyyr]

National Interests? The guy made movies, not designed tanks.

[Captain Seafort]

National Interests? The guy made movies, not designed tanks.

I suspect they were talking about the possibility (or likelihood) of the US sulking, and still decided that the paperwork they were given was crap.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Well, injustice has been done.

[Mikey]

I think you mean, "continued."

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

I think you mean, "continued."

You're right.

[Deepcrush]

We should just pick him up like we do most people. It would just make the whole matter so much easier.

[Tyyr]

Because hey, what's justice for a child rapist vs. pissing off the USA?

[Mikey]

I've always been cynical; but never before have I seen such a blatant and blunt illustration of "alternative justice" for those with wealth and position.

[Captain Seafort]

It's got very little to do with his wealth and everything to do with his citizenship - the French refuse point-blank to extradite their citizens to anyone, under any circumstances. A stance I can understand, especially given the asymmetrical extradition treaty we've got thanks to bloody Labour.

[Mikey]

I don't believe he is a Swiss citizen; nor would the French allow him to be held in Switzerland if that was their only concern. Believe you me, if he was a French citizen but a career sewer worker or ditch digger, there would have been no problem with his extradition.

[Captain Seafort]

I don't believe he is a Swiss citizen; nor would the French allow him to be held in Switzerland if that was their only concern. Believe you me, if he was a French citizen but a career sewer worker or ditch digger, there would have been no problem with his extradition.

He is a French citizen, and lives in France - that's why he hasn't faced extradition proceedings at any other point in the last thirty years. The only reason he was nicked this time was because he got careless when he travelled to Switzerland to collect an award and the US acted PDQ to serve their extradition request to the Swiss. It turns out that they made up for this prompt action through subsequent incompetence, and failed to supply the Swiss with the documents they required.

[Mikey]

All true. The fact remains that if he wasn't "the" Roman Polanski, he'd be on his way back to the U.S. by now in a new pair of bracelets, clerical error or not.

[Captain Seafort]

All true. The fact remains that if he wasn't "the" Roman Polanski, he'd be on his way back to the U.S. by now in a new pair of bracelets, clerical error or not.

Perhaps, or perhaps the Swiss simply decided that the US application didn't measure up, especially given how long ago his crime was, and that his victim has repeatedly stated that she thinks the whole process should be abandoned. Certainly it made no difference in the case of the French - their law specifically states that they will not extradite their citizens,

[Mikey]

that his victim has repeatedly stated that she thinks the whole process should be abandoned.

As has been said before, this is completely immaterial. The fact that she exhibits either some twisted non-resident version of Stockholm Syndrome or the strength of character to move beyond what that monster did to her does NOT in any way lessen the heinousness of his action.

In general:

the US application didn't measure up

how long ago his crime was

his victim has repeatedly stated that she thinks the whole process should be abandoned.

Are all infenitesimal trivialities compared to the fact that Roman Polanski raped a little girl. Using these points, or any others, as excuses merely highlights the fact that Switzerland has made it a policy to harbor, coddle, and protect men who rape little girls... at least, famous men who do. France only gets a semblance of a pass because of that law which you reference, leading to the fact that there was no mechanism for a conscious decision to be made on the matter. I don't believe you have children, but unless you have a hugely variant personality disorder I can bet you'd feel the same as I - if it were my baby to whom he did what he did, the globe wouldn't be large enough to keep me from finding him and killing him over the course of weeks, in ways that would make Henry Morgan or Torquemada say, "Gee, I wish I'd thought of that."