On March 10, 1977, Roman Polanski gave alcohol and drugs to a thirteen-year-old girl. He raped her and sodomized her. Polanski pled guilty to the charges. When the sentence was to be delivered, he fled the United States.
This week, Roman Polanski lost a pivotal appeal to a thirty-three year sexual abuse case in which he pled guilty and fled the United States for the sanctuary of France, a country that would not extradite him.
Now, Roman Polanski is breaking his silence:
“I can no longer remain silent because the United States continues to demand my extradition more to serve me on a platter to the media of the world than to pronounce a judgment concerning which an agreement was reached thirty-three years ago.”
I urge the Swiss government to revoke Roman Polanski’s house arrest and place him in a secured facility within Switzerland. If they do not, it is almost certain that Mr. Polanski will once again evade justice and flee his house arrest.
Mr. Polanski—whatever his status in any community—does not have special rights to evade justice. Whatever the judiciary of the Swiss government decides to do on his extradition is not at issue. The issue is that Mr. Polanski has a prior history of fleeing the confines of justice when confronted with an outcome that does not suit him.
Polanski’s victim, Samantha Geimer, has appeared in the media and asked that the charges against him be dismissed. But should his crimes be forgiven if they’ve already been made public and he has confessed to them? No. We should not allow him to escape justice after raping this girl because it condones his actions. It would also give him the freedom to commit similar crimes against other members of society.
Please consider that this man is a child-rapist who has been a fugitive of justice for thirty-three years. There has been an international arrest warrant for Roman Polanski since 2005. Please realize that now given the almost certain outcome of having to face the court which he fled decades ago, Polanski will most certainly flee again.
The French have been protecting Roman Polanski for the last 33 years. How long before this coward flees his Swiss chalet for the saving graces of France?
To the people of Switzerland, please take a stand on the side of justice in this matter. Roman Polanski is once again going to flee and resurface in some country that will protect him. You have the power to change that.