26 Days Later, The US Finally Asks For Polanski
Two more days and we could have made a movie. Well, really two because isn't there 28 Days Later and also 28 Days? Not even close to the same movie, but each very good in their own right. Anyway, 26 days after the Swiss took Roman Polanski into custody, the United States finally got off its ass and formally asked the Swiss to extradite him.
So, I am hoping that whoever is keeping track of the petition will go ahead and post it in the comments. I don't know how any person can support the guy and say it was wrong that he was arrested in Switzerland. I bet none of those people who signed will show up in court. I still haven't got an answer from Natalie Portman's publicist as to the reason she signed the petition. So, someone please post the names and then we can e-mail all the publicists and ask them if their clients will show up in court and support Polanski in person where cameras can see a face and not just a name on a petition.
These are the signatories as of 9/29/09. I don't see Portman so perhaps its not complete. I think the email to the publicist should also ask if they support him because s/he has also raped a child or if its for some other reason.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.indiewire.com/article/over_100_in_film_community_sign_polanski_petition/P1/#
thanks, enty for having the balls to put these people on the spot and trying to make them answer for themselves. i'm so disgusted at these people. ugh!
ReplyDeleteyes,Polanski had a sad and awful childhood!
ReplyDeleteyes,it's awful what is happened to his wife,child and friends!
yes,he's a great director!
yes,i'm sorry for his french wife and their children!
but Drug,Sex and Sodomize a 13 years old girl is BAD
Would any of the days he is held in Switzerland count as time served?
ReplyDeleteHow unfortunate that so many people are allowing their own vigilante instincts take priority against the victim's own wishes, all for the sake of a messy, sensational trial that the prosecution stands a good chance of losing..
ReplyDeleteThe victim isn't prosecuting him -- the legal system is. The law was broken. He's an unrepentant felon and he needs to serve time. It's not vigilante justice, it's the same justice anyone would receive who drugged and raped a child.
ReplyDeleteEnty, I'll see if I can find a full list when I'm home if someone else doesn't beat me to it.
Christine! I like the way you think.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to one updated yesterday (oct 22 5pm). I don't see Portman's name on it.
ReplyDeleteI guess I should have left the url visible, huh?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sacd.fr/Tous-les-signataires-de-la-petition-All-signing-parties.1341.0.html
@Robert: Actually, you have it wrong. The victim was already compensated for what he did to her. She sued him civil court and won. This trial is for what he owes the state of California. He fled from justice and he needs to pay for his crimes. I promise you that if drug dealers and mafia bosses get prosecuted after going on the lam, then this bastard deserves the same treatment.
ReplyDeleteagreed with Melody! When there is evidence of rape or abuse or ANYTHING (such as with the Rihanna case), it's the STATE that presses charges because it is a crime against us all. If victims were always allowed to choose what happened to their abusers/killers, too many would get off.
ReplyDeleteIsabel, Melody, RocketQueen - you are so right. We dont just prosecute people on behalf of the victims,
ReplyDeleteThe victim may have won damages against Polanski, but he never paid her a penny. But that's a civil case, not the criminal one.
ReplyDeleteAnd if he'd just taken it like a man from the beginning, gone to trial, taken his prison time, he'd have been OUT long ago, and free to travel to/from the U.S.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE to see justice done to celebrities who think they're above the law.
Well-put RocketQueen--a crime against society.
Wonder how long it's going to take for Polanski to be in the US?
ReplyDeleteI'm so pleased that the USA are going ahead with this and aren't going to be cowed by eejits who think celebrity is above the law.
ReplyDeleteOh and the irony of Woody Allen signing the petition *eyeroll*
ReplyDeleteI still can't believe that Whoopi Goldberg (who I normally LOVE) said on The View that this wasn't "rape rape" WTF kind of rape was it then????? Does drugs & alcohol validate the sex? Does that mean date rape is OK 'cause it's not "rape rape"/ Sorry Whoopi, but that was ignorant!
ReplyDeletePetition for Roman Polanski
ReplyDeleteWe have learned the astonishing news of Roman Polanski's arrest by the Swiss police on September 26th, upon arrival in Zurich (Switzerland) while on his way to a film festival where he was due to receive an award for his career in filmmaking.
His arrest follows an American arrest warrant dating from 1978 against the filmmaker, in a case of morals.
Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision. It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, is used by the police to apprehend him.
By their extraterritorial nature, film festivals the world over have always permitted works to be shown and for filmmakers to present them freely and safely, even when certain States opposed this.
The arrest of Roman Polanski in a neutral country, where he assumed he could travel without hindrance, undermines this tradition: it opens the way for actions of which no-one can know the effects.
Roman Polanski is a French citizen, a renown and international artist now facing extradition. This extradition, if it takes place, will be heavy in consequences and will take away his freedom.
Filmmakers, actors, producers and technicians - everyone involved in international filmmaking - want him to know that he has their support and friendship.
On September 16th, 2009, Mr. Charles Rivkin, the US Ambassador to France, received French artists and intellectuals at the embassy. He presented to them the new Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the embassy, Ms Judith Baroody. In perfect French she lauded the Franco-American friendship and recommended the development of cultural relations between our two countries.
If only in the name of this friendship between our two countries, we demand the immediate release of Roman Polanski.
full list of those signing including, but not limited to:
Woody Allen
Pedro Almodovar
Darren Aronovsky (Mr Rachel Weitz)
Monica Belluci
Gael Garcia Bernal (he's on the host committee for this year's Witness benefit and I think the theme is, ironically, violence against women)
Alfonso Cuaron
Jonathon Demme
Stephen Frears
Costa Gavras
Terry Gilliam
Buck Henry
John Landis
Jeanne Moreau
Julian Schnabel
Martin Scorsese
Tilda Swinton
Wim Wenders
He has yet to pay anything for this crime, whether it's to the People of the State of Calif or to the victim. Long overdue.
ReplyDeleteSomeone at Gossip Rocks is suggesting some signatories, including Natalie Portman, have removed their names from the petition. Is there any way to discover if this is true?
ReplyDeleteI don't recall seeing Portman's name when the petition went up. Penelope Cruz's was on it originally and I didn't see it there when I posted the text and names of some of the signatories earlier this afternoon, so it appears as though some people are removing their names to protect their upcoming projects.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering why on Earth Portman would sign that petition, and then I remembered that not only is she in one of his films, but she was dating Moby when he was almost 40 and she was maybe 15, so maybe she doesn't see what the big deal is.
ReplyDeleteIt's still revolting. And I'm horrified that Emma Thompson signed it too. I'm chalking a lot of this up to ignorance of what he was actually accused of as well as an ignorance of how the US legal system actually works. Most of the petitioners aren't Americans.
...but they are making a movie. Brett Ratner started lensing the doc a day before the arrest.
ReplyDeleteI don't care how awful a childhood he had it doesn't give him a free pass to pass the pain onto others.
ReplyDeleteBrett Ratner is making a movie? WTF!
Anybody on that damn list who has daughters needs a double ass kicking. What if that was their child??
First, why does it not even REMOTELY surprise me that Woody Allen signed this piece of shit.
ReplyDeleteSecond, the link that Christine kindly provided got cut off .. so click here and it will send you to the page where the signers are clear and easy to read unlike the mashed up mess at the SACD site.
Third, Portman's name is not on the petition that I can see .. nor is Emma Thompson's. Most of the signers are French .. not surprising given the petition is French.
Fourth, some of the replies at the IndeiWire link to the story and petition are truly scary as hell. This country is in a whole lot of trouble politically apparently.
Fifth, they should have let him rot behind bars in Switzerland a bit longer, IMHO.
Lastly, I found the grand jury testimony from Samantha. It is very sad and very graphic. If EL wants us to contact publicists .. I think this would be a very very nice addition. How can your clients support a man who did this?? [I have redacted some words for the sake of any kids who might happen by.]
ReplyDelete"Q: Did you take a quaalude?
A: I took part of it.
Q: Where did you get this part?
A: [Polanski] gave it to me.
[...]
Q: After he kissed you did he say anything?
A: No.
Q: Did you say anything?
A: No, besides I was just going, "No. Come on, let's go home."
Q: What was said after you indicated that you wanted to go home when you were sitting on the couch?
A: He said "I'll take you home soon."
Q: Then what happened?
A: Then he went down and he started performing cuddliness.
Q: What does that mean?
A: It means he went down on me or he placed his mouth on my v****a.
[...]
Q: What happened after that?
A: He started to have intercourse with me.
Q: What do you mean by intercourse?
A: He placed his p***s in my v****a.
Q: What did you say, if anything, before he did that?
A: I was mostly just on and off saying, "No, stop." But I wasn't fighting really because I, you know, there was no one else there and I had no place to go.
Q: What did he say, if anything?
A: He didn't answer me when I said, "No."
[...]
A: I think he said something like right after I said I was not on the pill, right before he said, "Oh, I won't c**e inside of you then." And I just went--and he goes--and then he put me--wait. Then he lifted my legs up farther and he went in through my a**s.
Q: When you say he went in your a**s, what do you mean by that?
A: He put his p***s in my b**t.
Q: Did he say anything at that time?
A: No.
Q: Did you resist at that time?
A: A little bit, but not really because--(pause.)
Q: Because what?
A: Because I was afraid of him.
[...]
Q: Do you know what a climax is?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you know whether he had a climax?
A: Yes.
Q: And how do you know that?
A: Because I could kind of feel it and it was in my underwear. It was in my underwear. It was on my b**t and stuff.
Q: When you say that, you believe that he climaxed in your a**s?
A: Yes."
How in THE HELL could people support him if they read this?? I mean where these people even thinking when they signed? Did they even have the remotest knowledge of what Polanski did to this child of 13??
I hope Polanski rots in jail .. I really, really do.
The probation report which is online concludes that there was evidence that the victim was "mature and willing". Apparently they found Polanski's version of events more credible than the victims grand jury testimony.
ReplyDeleteThe victim's "maturity" and "willingness" are immaterial. She was 13. He also evaded justice.
ReplyDeleteHer "willingess and maturity" are a moot point- she was still a minor, and what he did was still illegal. That aside, the girls said NO. No means NO; it isn't that difficult to understand.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how anyone can defend him. He is no different than the scumbag pedophiles seen on "To Catch A Predator".
I hope he's on the receiving end of prison rape soon.
Well said @ambernyc.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if a car thief could say "well, Your Honor, the keys were in the ignition and the door was open".
What I want to know is the reason for Switzerland's involvement. Polanski has made numerous trips in and out of Switzerland with no problems, so why did they do this now? Who did he piss off?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHurts my heart that David Lynch signed it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not an expert on the case, but I hate it when people use the fact that the victim doesn't want to persue it as a reason to let this guy go. The reason she doesn't want to prosecute is because this whole thing is humiliating for her, right? Am I wrong about that? And since Roman Polanski is ultimately the one who caused her humiliation in the first place --and also the one who prolonged it by fleeing the country and preventing the case from just being closed already so that she could get on with her life --I think that letting him off the hook based on that is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteChristine said "I think the email to the publicist should also ask if they support him because s/he has also raped a child or if its for some other reason."
Exactly! Why else would you be all upset about the fact that one can be arrested at an International Film Festival (gasp!!!!) if you aren't worried about it happening to you. I do wonder if some of the signers are just REALLY stupid and thought he was arrested for making a controversial movie or something. I mean, the petition called it "a case of morals" (ugh)... or maybe a bunch of people who signed were drunk and didn't read it? I'm trying to find reasons!
This link has Portman's name on it.
ReplyDeletehttp://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/39618660.html?page=20#comments