“Swiss authorities say Polanski free after rejecting U.S. extradition request.”

Wait? WHAT?!?!

When I first saw this headline on CNN I actually thought I had read that Switzerland will extradite Roman Polanski to the US. Call me naive but in my mind that would have been the only logical outcome and headline!

Following is the official statement from the Swiss justice ministry:

“The 76-year-old French-Polish film director Roman Polanski will not be extradited to the USA. The freedom-restricting measures against him have been revoked. This announcement was made by Mrs Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, head of the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP), in Berne on Monday. The reason for the decision lies in the fact that it was not possible to exclude with the necessary certainty a fault in the US extradition request, although the issue was thoroughly examined. Moreover, also the principles of State action deriving from international public order were taken into account.

At the end of 2005 the US authorities issued an international search warrant against Roman Polanski due to sexual offence against a minor committed in 1977. On the basis of this international order of arrest, Roman Polanski was arrested on 26th September 2009 upon his arrival at the airport of Zürich and taken into provisional custody pending extradition. On 22nd October 2009 the US authorities filed a formal extradition request. On 4th December Roman Polanski was released from custody after depositing a 4.5 million franc bail and was granted house arrest under electronic monitoring in his chalet in Gstaad.”

How noble of them to let this pedophile go free on a technicality that is in question! And I am sure to his utter delight he is now free again to roam about in Europe where he can continue to enjoy the lime light and high life in the lap of luxury. And it’s not that he had suffered during his house arrest. After all we are talking about being tied to his chalet in Gstaad and anyone who has been to Gstaad and has seen Polanski’s chalet knows that punishment is the opposite of living here:

Another reasoning for the Swiss decision was that “Polanski had a reasonable right to think he would not be arrested if he visited” Switzerland. Give me a break! As far as I am concerned this guy should have reason to believe he’d be arrested no matter where he goes, because in the reality I live in it is not exactly unreasonable to believe that a 44 year old man who drugs and rapes a 13 year old girl, then flees the country to avoid jail time should be extradited back to the US the moment he hits foreign soil. Any foreign soil. But no! Outrageously enough Polanski has managed to evade the justice system successfully since 1977, living freely in Europe and continuously making successful movies, walking amongst the rich and (in)famous, even though an arrest warrant has been out for 23 years and an international one since 2005. I cannot even believe the international arrest warrant was only issued in 2005. And they say money cannot buy you happiness or in Polanski’s case, freedom.

I seem to recall that when Mr. Polanski was arrested in Switzerland a few of his famous friends came to his defense stating that his unmatched artistic talent should somehow be enough reason to let him go free, that the world should excuse his appalling, criminal act because of his creativity as a film maker. Or as Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times said: “We’re calling on every film-maker we can to help fix this terrible situation. Whether the LA County district attorney’s office has its way or not, it is not a story that can have a happy ending. I think Polanski has already paid a horrible, soul-wrenching price for the infamy surrounding his actions. The real tragedy is that he will always, till his death, be snubbed and stalked and confronted by people who think the price he has already paid isn’t enough.”

Yes, that’s right, Patrick! Nothing short of this man spending the rest of his days in jail will be enough!!!

Todays’ Running Tip: I am too worked up to think straight, let alone run in a straight line!