Sunday
Sep272009
Sunday, September 27, 2009 at 10:28AM Roman Polanski Arrested in Switzerland
Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski, listed as a fugitive in the United States stemming from a 1978 charge of having sex with a minor, was arrested this weekend in Switzerland, where he was scheduled to attend the Zurich Film Festival. A Swiss justice ministry spokesman said: "I confirm that Mr Polanski has been arrested. The American authorities issued an international search request in 2005 in relation to a 1978 warrant."
Reader Comments (10)
This is so bad. So Polanski is going to jail right ...
OMG this is horrible, brilliant director well loved in the film industry and I feel like in the common public as well...
I wonder whats going to come out of this...
WOW this is huge news, hopefully Mr Polanski knows he has millions on his side!
Well, he should still do the time. I don't think we're looking at years in prison or anything but just because it happened a lifetime ago doesn't make it any less wrong. Obviously, he knows it's wrong or he wouldn't have been avoiding punishment all this time.
Having said that, I would guess the outspoken victim plays in his favor. She wants the case dropped, and I can't imagine the court would show no mercy because of that. And then he can make movies in America again if he wants.
[A]lthough how Polanski would be tried for a 30-year-old crime remains to be seen.
Actually because Polanski plead guilty before fleeing I don't see why they would need to retry him.
I don't see how this is terrible, or how "millions are on his side." If this was my daughter, I'd still want to see his ass in jail. Colin, you're right. He has been hiding because he knew it was wrong. I'm sorry that his wife was once murdered, but a victim isn't allowed to make more victims. He needs to do his time.
Manson follower Susan Atkins who had killed Roman Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate died a couple of days ago and now this announced arrest of Roman Polanski.
What I can't understand is, how did Polanski manage to evade the law all these years with the so called technology of cameras and GPS, etc. There is just NO way that one can hide from the law with all of technology that is out there.
Something is just screwy here. I think the authorities DID know where he was hiding all these years. And one has to question as to why did they decide to arrest him NOW and not arrest him from years ago? Not to mention that this is going to cost taxpayers money for a trial that will drag on for years.
This is another example of how there is no such thing as "justice" in the justice system in the USA. Criminals go free while the innocent and victims get sent to prison.
If I understand it correctly, there was an international warrant issued in 2005, but many countries just didn't bother. Clearly, that was the case in Switzerland until this weekend, because Polanski maintained a house there for a number of years.
Yes, Roman did admit he had sex with the 13 year old girl; however, he was not charged with rape. … what he did was wrong, even if it was long ago, he still was made responsible for this…