"Swiss authorities refuse to extradite Polanski' US protests as director is freed" by Edward Cody, Washington Post | July 13, 2010
How odd because I was just asking about this.
PARIS — Swiss authorities freed French director Roman Polanski yesterday, deciding not to extradite him to Los Angeles to face sentencing for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977....
Hey, he's not a Catholic priest even the he poked her pooper after giving her a quaalude.
Also see: Two sets of standards
And we know why.
Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said at a news conference that Polanski was free to leave Switzerland and return to his home in France.
So they HARBOR CHILD-MOLESTERS and WAR CRIMINAL LOOTERS, but women can't wear the veil, huh?
Hours after the ruling was announced, Polanski’s assistant said the director had left his multimillion dollar chalet with his family. Half-empty glasses seen on a back porch indicated a hasty exit.
Widmer-Schlumpf emphasized that Switzerland’s decision was not based on a determination of Polanski’s guilt or innocence but only on the validity of the extradition request presented by the United States and what she described as Swiss national interests.
How is protecting a pervert in their interests?
Switzerland blamed US authorities for failing to provide confidential testimony about Polanski’s sentencing procedure in 1977-1978. The Swiss government said it had sought confidential testimony given by Roger Gunson, the Los Angeles attorney in charge of the original prosecution against Polanski. The United States rejected the request.
The Los Angeles County district attorney, Steve Cooley, said he was deeply disappointed by the decision and will work with US officials to try to extradite Polanski if he is arrested again. Cooley also accused the Swiss of manufacturing an excuse to set Polanski free.
Same as doing it for a war.
Herve Temime, a French lawyer who was on the team representing the director, said the ruling is “an enormous satisfaction and a great relief after the pain suffered by Roman Polanski and his family.’’
Pain suffered by him? By him?
He didn't get a pecker in the pooper!!!!
The decision constituted a victory not only for Polanski but also for a broad array of European intellectual and political figures who had come to his defense with petitions and statements of outrage denouncing the effort to continue prosecution after so many years.
That is shameful and unbelievable. They are DEFENDING HIM?
Polanski’s backers, ranging from fellow directors to French culture and foreign ministers, criticized US and Los Angeles judicial authorities for seeking what they called crude revenge against a major artist who deserved more respect.
For what?
Some suggested Switzerland had heeded the extradition request only to relieve US pressure against Swiss bank secrecy laws....
Polanski was wanted for fleeing the United States three decades ago on the eve of a 1978 sentencing hearing in Los Angeles. The hearing was part of a plea bargain in which Polanski acknowledged having sex with the girl during a modeling session at the home of the actor Jack Nicholson.
Oh, Jack!
It's not just an act, is it?
Before the deal with Los Angeles prosecutors, Polanski also had been charged with child molestation, rape and sodomy, and providing the girl with illegal drugs.
Why not tell us what the drug was, MSM?
Polanski’s supporters said he fled the sentencing after concluding that his Los Angeles judge was about to go back on the plea bargain and sentence the director to a long jail term. Since then, he has lived in his native France while avoiding countries that have strong extradition treaties with the United States.
Behaving like a Sudanese (or Israeli) war criminal.
The US cannot appeal the decision, but Polanski is still a fugitive in the United States.
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the Obama administration was disappointed by the Swiss action.
“The United States believes that the rape of a 13-year-old child by an adult is a crime, and we continue to pursue justice in this case,’’ Crowley said.
But not too hard.
It's not like they are kidnapping and rendering him to a secret CIA black site.
Even the Globe has to get in its two cents:
"Polanski: Justice like Swiss cheese
Now that Roman Polanski is free to return to his gilded exile in France, it’s worth remembering what he pleaded guilty to 32 years ago: drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl. That would be a shocking crime if it happened in an ordinary suburb and the perpetrator worked in an office park. The fact that Polanski is a brilliant artist shouldn’t matter at all — nor should the time elapsed or the victim’s purported lack of interest in pursuing the case.
Yet the Swiss justice ministry decided not to extradite the 76-year-old director....
They cited “international public order.’’
Polanski’s 1977-78 sentencing was, indeed, shrouded in controversy; his lawyers argue that the judge acted improperly and reneged on a deal. This could become an argument for granting Polanski a new trial or revising his sentence. But letting him stay free, surrounded by luxury and accolades, sends a disturbing message about how money and celebrity can supersede morality and justice, not just in the United States, but around the world.Not only that, but his movies sucked.
You do not see them do my list, do you?
--more--"
Also see: Dirty Old Jew Defies American Justice
Slow Saturday Special: Swiss Protecting Pervert Polanski
Turns out he has lots of friends over here:
"Sides point fingers over miscommunication in Polanski case" by Linda Deutsch, Associated Press | July 16, 2010
LOS ANGELES — The Roman Polanski case took another strange turn yesterday, with American prosecutors disputing who was responsible for an apparent miscommunication about sealed transcripts requested by Swiss authorities.
Swiss officials said their request to see the transcripts was denied — a choice that led them to free the director against US wishes.
The Justice Department insisted that it notified Los Angeles prosecutors about its decision to reject the Swiss request. But Los Angeles officials said they never heard from Washington....
The miscommunication was another in a long series of prosecutorial missteps that have dogged the case from its inception in 1977....
Almost as if they WANTED to F*** IT UP!
Related(?): Operation Iraq: Blessed Blackwater
Nah, they are GOVERNMENT PROFESSIONALS, right?
