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Roman Polanski Free, Swiss Refuse Extradition

Switzerland will not extradite scumbag Roman Polanski.

James Joyner
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The sex criminal Roman Polaski is free to go, as Switzerland has refused U.S. extradition requests:

The Swiss government declared renowned film director Roman Polanski a free man on Monday after rejecting a U.S. request to extradite him on a charge of having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.

The Swiss mostly blamed U.S. authorities for failing to provide confidential testimony about Polanski’s sentencing procedure in 1977-1978.

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

“The 76-year-old French-Polish film director Roman Polanski will not be extradited to the USA,” the ministry said in a statement. “The freedom-restricting measures against him have been revoked.”

One wonders what “confidential testimony” the Swiss needed and why the DOJ refused to send it.  But the fact remains that Polanski pled guilty to the crime.

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3 responses to “Roman Polanski Free, Swiss Refuse Extradition”

  1. DC Loser Avatar
    DC Loser

    There might be something else at work here. The Swiss are very upset over the treatment UBS has received from the DoJ over the disclosure of identities of American account holders who are hiding assets from the IRS. This may have something to do with that IMHO.

  2. PD Shaw Avatar
    PD Shaw

    According to the NY Times, the “confidential” records are “the records of a January hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court that would have shown the judge in charge of the Polanski case in 1977 agreed that ‘the 42 days of detention spent by Roman Polanski in the psychiatric unit of a Californian prison represented the whole term of imprisonment he was condemned to.’”

    The judge’s ruling wouldn’t be confidential, but I guess the pedophile supporters were demanding to see the judge’s notes to see if there was evidence of a different, informal agreement.

  3. Brummagem Joe Avatar
    Brummagem Joe

    The problem is the process got tainted in CA which is probably why they weren’t willing to turn over all the records because if this ever came to court all this would emerge during discovery. Polaski (sic) is a sleazeball but given the time elapsed and when even the girl he had sex with doesn’t want him imprisoned you have to wonder what this was all about. No it’s not pretty but it’s how the world tends to work. The comment about the Swiss being aggrieved may have some merit, the Swiss were very ticked they got bullied (as they perceive it) over the UBS matter and the deal barely made it through their parliament.

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