France, Poland want Polanski released on bail

china

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France, Poland want Polanski released on bail
By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER and ONNA CORAY – 4 hours ago
ZURICH — The international tug-of-war over Roman Polanski escalated Monday as France and Poland urged Switzerland to free the 76-year-old director on bail and pressed U.S. officials all the way up to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the case.
Polanski was in his third day of detention after Swiss police arrested him Saturday on an international warrant as he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award from a film festival.
A complicated legal process awaited all sides as the United States moved forward to secure his extradition for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl and fleeing to France a year later.
The Swiss Justice Ministry on Monday did not rule out the possibility that Polanski, director of such classic films as "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby," could be released on bail under very strict conditions that he doesn't flee Switzerland.
Justice spokesman Guido Balmer said such an arrangement is "not entirely excluded" under Swiss law and that Polanski could file a motion on bail.
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he hoped Polanski could be quickly freed by the Swiss, calling the apprehension a "bit sinister." He also told France-Inter radio that he and his Polish counterpart Radek Sikorski wrote to Clinton, and said there could be a decision as early as Monday if a Swiss court accepts bail.
Polanski has hired Swiss attorney Lorenz Erni to represent him in Switzerland, according to the law firm Eschmann & Erni.
Polanski seems most likely to spend several months in detention, unless he agrees to forgo any challenge to his extradition to the United States. Under a 1990 accord between Switzerland and the U.S., Washington has 60 days to submit a formal request for his transfer. Rulings in a similar dispute four years ago over Russia's former atomic energy minister Yevgeny Adamov confirmed that subjects should be held in custody throughout the procedure.
That means the procedure for extradition could also be lengthy for the United States. Its request for Polanski's transfer must first be examined by the Swiss Justice Ministry, and once approved it can be appealed at a number of courts.
The 2005 saga over Adamov's extradition, eventually to Russia and not the U.S., took seven months. The case also sets a possible precedent for France, which may wish to try one of its own nationals in a domestic court rather than in Los Angeles.
For now, Polanski is living in a Zurich cell where he receives three meals a day and is allowed outside for one hour of daily exercise.
Rebecca de Silva, spokeswoman for the Zurich prison authorities, refused to say exactly where Polanski was being held for security reasons, but said cells are usually single or double occupancy and that each room contains a table, storage compartment, sink, toilet and television.
Family and friends can only see Polanski for an hour each week, but that does not include official visits from lawyers and consular diplomats, de Silva said.
The Justice Ministry insisted Sunday that politics played no role in its arrest order on Polanski, who lives in France but has spent much time at a chalet in the luxury Swiss resort of Gstaad. That has led to widespread speculation among his friends and even politicians in Switzerland that the neutral country was coerced by Washington into action.
Polanski's French lawyer Herve Temime told the daily Le Parisien that Polanski stayed in Gstaad for months this year.
"He came here, but I have no idea how frequently," said Toni von Gruenigen, deputy mayor of Saarnen, where the famously discreet community is located.
Von Gruenigen said he was unaware of any attempt to arrest Polanski in the town where Elizabeth Taylor, Roger Moore and Richard Burton have also sought refuge from pressures at home.
"He kept a low profile," von Gruenigen told The AP.
The U.S. has had an outstanding warrant on Polanski since 1978, but the Swiss said American authorities have sought the arrest of the director around the world only since 2005.
Polanski has asked a U.S. appeals court in California to overturn a judges' refusal to throw out his case. He claims misconduct by the now-deceased judge who had arranged a plea bargain and then reneged on it.
His victim, Samantha Geimer, who long ago identified herself publicly, has joined in Polanski's bid for dismissal, saying she wants the case to be over. She sued Polanski and reached an undisclosed settlement.
Earlier this year, Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza in Los Angeles dismissed Polanski's bid to throw out the case because the director failed to appear in court to press his request, but said there was "substantial misconduct" in the handling of the original case.
In his ruling, Espinoza said he reviewed not only legal documents, but also watched the HBO documentary, "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired," which suggests there was behind-the-scenes manipulations by a now-retired prosecutor who was not assigned to the case.
Polanski has lived for the past three decades in France, where his career has continued to flourish; he received a directing Oscar in absentia for the 2002 movie "The Pianist." He is married to French actress Emanuelle Seigner, with whom he has two children.
He has avoided traveling to countries likely to extradite him. For instance, he testified by video link from Paris in a 2005 libel trial in London against Vanity Fair magazine. He did not want to enter Britain for fear of being arrested.
Balmer said the difference during Polanski's visit this time to Zurich was that authorities knew when and where he would arrive. The Alpine country does not perform regular passport checks anymore on arrivals from 24 other European countries.
Balmer also rejected that the arrest was somehow aimed at winning favor with the U.S. after a series of bilateral spats over tax evasion and wealthy Americans stashing money at Swiss banking giant UBS AG.
"There was a valid arrest request and we knew when he was coming. That's why he was taken into custody," Balmer told The AP. "There is no link with any other issues in question."
Investigators in the U.S. learned of Polanski's planned trip days ago, giving them enough time to lay the groundwork for an arrest, said William Sorukas, chief of the U.S. Marshals Service's domestic investigations branch.
Klapper reported from Geneva. AP writers Frank Jordans and Eliane Engeler in Geneva contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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china

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(CNN) -- Roman Polanski is regarded as one of the finest directors of his generation, winning an Oscar for "The Pianist" and nominations for"Tess" and "Rosemary's Baby," but he is probably as equally well known for his own tumultuous life.
Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate are pictured together in London in the 1960s.




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Polanski, who was arrested Saturday in Switzerland on a U.S. arrest warrant stemming from a decades-old sex charge, had lived in France for decades to avoid being arrested if he enters the United States.
The 76-year-old declined to collect his Academy Award for Best Director in person when he won it for "The Pianist" in 2003. He was en route to the Zurich Film Festival, which is holding a tribute to him, when he was arrested by Swiss authorities, the festival said.
Polanski was put in "provisional detention" and now faces the possibility of being extradited to the U.S., where a warrant for his arrest was issued in 1978.
The director pleaded guilty in 1977 to a single count of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, acknowledging he had sex with a 13-year-old girl, but fled the U.S. before he could be sentenced.
Polanski was accused of plying the girl, then known as Samantha Gailey, with champagne and a sliver of a quaalude tablet and performing various sex acts, including intercourse, with her during a photo shoot at actor Jack Nicholson's house. He was 43 at the time.
Nicholson was not at home, but his girlfriend at the time, actress Anjelica Huston, was.
According to a probation report contained in the filing, Huston described the victim as "sullen."
"She appeared to be one of those kind of little chicks between -- could be any age up to 25. She did not look like a 13-year-old scared little thing," Huston said.
She added that Polanski did not strike her as the type of man who would force himself on a young girl. "I don't think he's a bad man," she said in the report. "I think he's an unhappy man."
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Polanski was born in Paris in 1933 of Polish-Jewish parents. Aged three, he and his family returned to Krakow in his father's native Poland. After the Nazis invaded his parents were sent to concentration camps: his mother was gassed at Auschwitz although his father survived the war.
The young Polanski survived the Krakow ghetto and "soared out of Poland on sheer personality," according to director Marina Zenovich, whose 2007 documentary "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired," paints a sympathetic picture of the exiled movie legend.
Growing up in war-torn Poland, the young Polanski found comfort in the cinema and in acting in radio dramas, on stage and in films. In 1962, Polanski directed his first feature-length film, "Knife in the Water." Poorly received in Poland it was a sensation in the West, and won an Academy Award nomination as Best Foreign Film.
He later moved to England, co-starring with American actress Sharon Tate, whom he married in 1968, in the Hammer horror parody, "Dance of the Vampires/The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me But Your Teeth Are in My Neck."
Following his move to Hollywood, Polanski was at his peak: he was one of the hottest directors thanks to the critical and commercial hit Rosemary's Baby and he was married to the beautiful Tate.
"At a certain point in his life, Roman Polanski had a lot of hope," Zenovich told TIME magazine in 2008. "He was living this great life. He was so talented and everyone wanted to work with him."
But that hopeful period ended when Tate, eight months' pregnant, was murdered by followers of Charles Manson in 1969. According to TIME, Polanski spent the first years after her death on a kind of sexual spree, and began spending time with younger and younger women, like 15-year-old Nastassja Kinski.
When Polanski was arrested for assaulting Gailey, his case drew the attention of Judge Laurence J. Rittenband, who had earlier presided over Elvis Presley's divorce, Marlon Brando's child-custody battle and a paternity suit against Cary Grant.
Rittenband, in a manner reminiscent of the one-liner-dropping judge in the Anna Nicole Smith case, was obsessed with the media. He even had a bailiff maintain a scrapbook of his newspaper clippings, according court filings.
The case proceeded in a strange manner. Rittenband, who is now dead, first sent the director to maximum-security prison for 42 days while he underwent psychological testing. Then, on the eve of his sentencing, the judge told attorneys he was inclined to send Polanski back to prison for another 48 days.
The judge's bizarre behavior might have continued had Polanski not fled to France, where he has lived for the last 30 years, ultimately marrying again and having two children.
Polanski has continued to make critically acclaimed films, such as "Tess," an adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" which tells the story of a beautiful country girl (Nastassja Kinski) who is seduced by an older man. In 1981, he returned to Poland to direct and star in a stage production of "Amadeus." And 2002's "The Pianist," re-established Polanksi as a top-flight director.
There have been repeated attempts to settle the sex case over the years, but the sticking point has always been Polanski's refusal to return to attend hearings.
Prosecutors have consistently argued that it would be a miscarriage of justice to allow a man to go free who "drugged and raped a 13-year-old child."
Polanski's lawyers tried earlier this year to have the charges thrown out, but a Los Angeles judge rejected the request.
In doing so, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza left the door open to reconsider his ruling if Polanski shows up in court.
Espinoza also appeared to acknowledge problems with the way the director's case was handled years ago. Polanski's victim is among those calling for the case to be thrown out.
Now married and known as Samantha Geimer, she filed court papers in January saying, "I am no longer a 13-year-old child. I have dealt with the difficulties of being a victim, have surmounted and surpassed them with one exception.
"Every time this case is brought to the attention of the Court, great focus is made of me, my family, my mother and others. That attention is not pleasant to experience and is not worth maintaining over some irrelevant legal nicety, the continuation of the case."
Geimer, now 45, and a mother of three, sued Polanski and received an undisclosed settlement. She long ago came forward and made her identity public -- mainly, she said, because she was disturbed by how the criminal case had been handled.
Polanski was arrested two days after one of his wife's killers died. By her own admission, Susan Atkins held Tate down as she pleaded for mercy, stabbing the 26-year-old actress 16 times. Polanski was filming in Europe at the time.
Atkins, 61, died Thursday. She had been suffering from terminal brain
 

taxslave

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I agree. There are no annular rings to count and be sure. It happens sometimes ... but running away doesn't help his case.

Knowing somewhat about how the US law system works I would run away too. Just look at how Marc Emery is being treated and he didn't even do anything wrong.
 

TenPenny

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I think he should face the courts - just because you're famous and talented doesn't mean you should be able to buy your way out (although that seems to be the way the US system works).
 

ironsides

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I think he should face the courts - just because you're famous and talented doesn't mean you should be able to buy your way out (although that seems to be the way the US system works).

Don't blame the U.S. remember were to conservative for most of you. Just because your famous is no excuse to escape a crime no matter how long it takes to catch you. Europe protected him all these years with their liberal laws and morals, I hope Canada has not dropped that low also.


Yahoo!
 
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coldstream

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From what I,ve read the girl was bigger than Polanski and lied about her age .

I've seen pictures of her at the time, and she looked every bit a pubescent 13 year old. There's no doubt the old lecher knew exactly what he was doing and the risks. The sentences for Statutory Rape, are much more punitive in the States now than they were in the mid 70s, approaching those of Forcible Rape. On top of which you will become a Registered Sex Offender, and will have to report your address to the local police in any town in which you have an extended stay.

Polanski would have been better off to have taken his punishment. He was originally offered a plea agreement of 3 months in prison, after which he could have resumed his Hollywood career, although as a convicted sexual felon. I understand there was some alleged judicial misconduct and reneging of the plea agreement, which could work in his favour if he is extradited.

Instead he's puttered around Europe, producing low budget films, in no way realizing the potential he showed with Chinatown. And he faces Criminal Flight from Prosecution as well as Statutory Rape charges that could mean a long time in prison for a 76 year old.

As far as releasing him on bail. Switzerland knows his history and know he'll immediately head for French border, which does not extradite its citizens. I doubt they would have arrested Polanski unless they intended the see the process of through to its conclusion, under the considerable influence of the U.S. State Department.
 
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ironsides

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Polanski would have been in addition to being classified a Registered Sex offender for the rest of his life would also be limited to how close he could live to a school, bus stops, playground, park, pretty much any where children would hang out etc.
 

ironsides

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Feb 13, 2009
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Can they apply today's sentencing on a thirty-year-old conviction?

Yes, he fled from justice. "Authorities in Los Angeles consider Polanski a "convicted felon and fugitive." The director pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl. He was sent to prison for 42 days and entered into a plea bargain. He fled to France on the day of his sentencing in 1978, aware the judge planned renege on the agreement and sentence him to more prison time."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090928/ap_on_en_mo/eu_switzerland_polanski

 

lone wolf

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Then he should be tried for for flight ... not a second time for that for which he has already been convicted. If that's US justice, it's no wonder the US looks over its shoulder.
 
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Colpy

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Knowing somewhat about how the US law system works I would run away too. Just look at how Marc Emery is being treated and he didn't even do anything wrong.

Oh Gimme a break!!!!

Emery made thousands of dollars selling an item in the USA that he knew was illegal.

Whether or not he agreed with the law is not any reflection on the standards of US law.....marijuana is illegal in many jurisdictions, including Canada........and violation of the law requires prosecution.

I think marijuana should be legalized.....but to say the prosecution of Emery for flaunting American law shows some flaw in the US justice system......well, that is simply idiotic.

Back to Polanski.....he fed the girl wine and drugs........she was 13.........he has fled justice........he NEEDS to serve a couple of years....period.

Talent is no excuse.

Damn, lefties are SOOOOO elitist!!!!
 

china

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Then he should be tried for for flight ... not a second time for that for which he has already been convicted. If that's US justice, it's no wonder the US looks over its shoulder.

Agree ,second time .What's this world coming to.
 

lone wolf

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Nov 25, 2006
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Oh Gimme a break!!!!

Emery made thousands of dollars selling an item in the USA that he knew was illegal.

Whether or not he agreed with the law is not any reflection on the standards of US law.....marijuana is illegal in many jurisdictions, including Canada........and violation of the law requires prosecution.

I think marijuana should be legalized.....but to say the prosecution of Emery for flaunting American law shows some flaw in the US justice system......well, that is simply idiotic.

Back to Polanski.....he fed the girl wine and drugs........she was 13.........he has fled justice........he NEEDS to serve a couple of years....period.

Talent is no excuse.

Damn, lefties are SOOOOO elitist!!!!

Then why was it so wrong to back down on the deal with the devil ... Carla Homolka?

It's not the talent, it's the fact a JUDGE cut him a deal, then let it be known he was going to renege. As far as diddling a thirteen year old, in the pics I saw on CTV news, she could have passed for legal age. It doesn't excuse doping her - but a damned deal was made.
 

china

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coldstream

Instead he's puttered around Europe, producing low budget films, in no way realizing the potential he showed with Chinatown
What abut the about the "Pianist" ? I think that was filmed in "Holivoodski" ,Poland .Not bad for a low budget film .