Polanski in Swiss custody
Just when he thought he could escape, Roman Polanski, 76, was arrested.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to him or anyone else considering he had an international warrant for his arrest from a 1977 “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor” case.
As a well-known director of films such as Chinatown and Rosemary’s Baby, Polanski is used to being in the public eye, and his life has been nothing less than controversial.
Perhaps you remember Charles Manson and the pregnant woman that he destroyed? Yes, that would be Polanski’s wife and child. That was in 1969.
In 1977, Polanski got involved with a 13-year-old girl…sexually. The details are hazy (as usual) but he’s had a warrant for his arrest ever since.
Initially charged with rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance (methaqualone) to a minor, Polanski fled the U.S. a year later. He’s been living in France since and recently directed The Pianist, which he accepted a directing Oscar in absentia.
This weekend, as Polanski was flying to Switzerland for the Zurich Film Festival in which he was being presented with an honorary award, he was set up for interception.
He was caught and is now in Swiss custody.
The U.S. has yet to request a formal extradition and have Polanski brought back for trial.
andrea @ September 27, 2009