Polanski Lawyers to Ask Clinton for ‘Clemency’
28 September 2009 5:06 pm by Taylor Marsh
If Roman Polanski weren’t an award winning film director, having made one of the greatest films of all time, “Chinatown,” we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Ann Applebaum agrees, but for very different reasons. Though if this post is true Ms. Applebaum has some explaining to do. If an ordinary citizen, instead of a brilliant auteur, had committed a crime like this and been a fugitive all these years, would such powerful forces align to aid him?
Back in 1977, Mr. Polanski drugged, then raped a 13 year-old, though he said he didn’t know she was that young at the time; plus the judge was rumored to have been a little shady. “Wanted and Desired” chronicled it all. Still, Polanski plead guilty that same year to “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor”. Someone remind Ms. Applebaum who insists Polanski “did not commit a crime.”
1977: Los Angeles police arrest Polanski on suspicion of “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.” Polanski, 44 at the time, pleads guilty.
He just was never sentenced.
Insert irony alert… This is bubbling up on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, with Polanski born to Jewish parents who escaped Krakow Jewish ghettos after the Nazis invaded.
…and his attorneys are intending to ask Sect. Clinton to grant clemency? Via the Hollywood Reporter:
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called the arrest “a bit sinister” and, together with his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski has written to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, asking her to intervene. The Polish Filmmakers Assn. also called for the release of Polanski, and has asked U.S. authorities to review the case.
But you could choke on the laughter this suggestion elicits. It was Pres. Bill Clinton who sponsored the treaty with Switzerland. Want to bet whether she’ll honor it?
Now, the woman who he raped is now 45 and doesn’t want him punished, in fact, she forgives him and says that a new trial could hurt her own family. Back in January the Hollywood Reporter posted her declaration online. Dredging all the sordid details up will be a nightmare, hurting the victim of a horrendous child rape yet again.
Polanski has been on the run for 30 years. He knew very well that Switzerland had an extradition treaty with the U.S., so he stepped into this one himself. Fighting extradition is a loser. Buck up, face the music. Soundtrack of Mr. Polanski’s choice.
However, that’s not Roman’s choice. He’s going to fight it all the way. Dramatic plot line to the end.
