Roman Polanski Arrested (Suisse)

RT @mrjyn - http://bit.ly/G3Ckr - #Roman #Polanski #Arrested #YOUTUBE #VIDEO - ONLY VIDEO ON WWW WEB (BESIDES REUTERS) - AND THEIRS IS FILE FOOTAGE) - Updated 1:00 p.m. LA TIMES - In a statement, three Los Angeles attorneys representing Polanski indicated the arrest came as a surprise. The lawyers have been representing him in an ongoing attempt to have the case against Polanski dismissed on the grounds of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.
(SWISS REPORT [TRANSLATED] - Polanski Arrested Zurich 5 Hours Ago 27.09.2009 22:56 ZURICH time - Roman Polanski's arrest Saturday night, following an open procedure in the U.S. in 1977, never stops to generate anger and indignation. While American courts have said the planned arrest last week, Bern justified. The 7th demands the release of the filmmaker in a petition.
(cunt. after the break)
LA TIMES FEATURE (UPDATE)
Samantha Geimer on being the victim of Polanski and the media - Three decades after he fled the United States following his arrest for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, Roman Polanski was taken into custody in Zurich this morning and faces extradition to Los Angeles. Polanski, the famed film director whose career continued to flourish even after fleeing for Europe, was arrested as he arrived in the Swiss city to accept an award at the Zurich Film Festival. The Los Angeles County district attorneys office learned last week that Polanski had plans to travel to Zurich this weekend. Prosecutors sent a provisional arrest warrant to the U.S. Justice Department, which presented it to Swiss authorities. On at least two previous occasions, the district attorneys office has received reports that Polanski had travel arrangements to countries with extradition treaties with the U.S. and prepared paperwork for his arrest, Gibbons said. But in the end, he apparently found out about it and didnt go, she said. A source familiar with the investigation told The Times that the U.S. Marshals Service had come close to arresting Polanski half a dozen times or so over the past few decades -- though several of those opportunities presented themselves in the last two years.

Thomas Hession, head of the Marshals Service's Los Angeles office, would not comment on specifics of the case but said authorities moved quickly on each lead. "Any time information was developed, the L.A. County district attorney's office and the Marshals Service immediately acted on it."

Asked if prosecutors would ask that Polanski be sentenced to time behind bars if he were returned to the U.S., Gibbons said, Weve always maintained this is a matter between Polanski and the court. We initially recommended prison time for him, but I cant see into the future.

HISTORY OF WARRANT:
Polanski was arrested 31 years ago at a Beverly Hills hotel after a 13-year-old girl accused him of sexually assaulting her during a photo shoot at actor Jack Nicholson's house.

A 1978 arrest warrant, issued after he failed to appear at his sentencing on the statutory-rape conviction, is still in effect, and he would be taken into custody upon arrival on U.S. soil. The director of "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" has not returned to the U.S. since then but continues to work as a director, winning an Oscar for "The Pianist."

Polanskis stay in Switzerland could be brief if he opts to return to Los Angeles. If he agrees with an extradition, he could be sent to the U.S. in the next days, said Guido Ballmer, a spokesman for the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police.
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(CUNT. - Suisse News)
Roman Polanski would be held in this prison of Kloten.
"There is no reason not to run an international arrest warrant valid," said the spokesman of the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ), Guido Balmer. The director was arrested Saturday night on his arrival at Zurich airport and remanded in custody for extradition. U.S. authorities accused him of sexual acts with children, including one case in 1977 with a minor thirteen years in Los Angeles. They were issued in 1978 an arrest warrant against the filmmaker and actively looking around the world since 2005, the FOJ said in a statement.

READ ALL INTERNATIONAL NEWS UPDATES AND REL. VIDEO AT -

After several tries, U.S. officials finally nab Roman Polanski in 1970s Samantha Geimer rape case [Updated] | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

After several tries, U.S. officials finally nab Roman Polanski in 1970s rape case [Updated]

September 27, 2009 |  1:00 pm

Three decades after he fled the United States following his arrest for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, Roman Polanski was taken into custody in Zurich this morning and faces extradition to Los Angeles.

Polanski, the famed film director whose career continued to flourish even after fleeing for Europe, was arrested as he arrived in the Swiss city to accept an award at the Zurich Film Festival.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office learned last week that Polanski had plans to travel to Zurich this weekend, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

Prosecutors sent a provisional arrest warrant to the U.S. Justice Department, which presented it to  Swiss authorities. On at least two previous occasions, the district attorney’s office has received reports that Polanski had travel arrangements to countries with extradition treaties with the U.S. and prepared paperwork for his arrest, Gibbons said.

“But in the end, he apparently found out about it and didn’t go,” she said.

A source familiar with the investigation told The Times that the U.S. Marshals Service had come close to arresting Polanski half a dozen times or so over the past few decades -- though several of those opportunities presented themselves in the last two years.

"For one reason or another, it just didn't work out," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing. "There are so many variables."

The source said Polanski always was very careful about when and where he traveled. But as new questions arose in recent years about the fairness of his case, the source said Polanski appeared to become more at ease about travel.

Thomas Hession, head of the Marshals Service's  Los Angeles office, would not comment on specifics of the case but said authorities moved quickly on each lead. "Any time information was developed, the L.A. County district attorney's office and the Marshals Service immediately acted on it."

Asked if prosecutors would ask that Polanski be sentenced to time behind bars if he were returned to the U.S., Gibbons said, “We’ve always maintained this is a matter between Polanski and the court. … We initially recommended prison time for him, but I can’t see into the future.”

An attorney for Polanski, Chad Hummel, declined to comment. “Right now, we’re not in a position to say anything,” he said.

[Updated 1:00 p.m. : In a statement, three Los Angeles attorneys representing Polanski  indicated the arrest came as a surprise. The lawyers have been representing him in an ongoing attempt to have the case against Polanski dismissed on the grounds of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.

"We were unaware of any extradition being sought and separate counsel will be retained for those proceedings,” wrote attorneys Douglas Dalton, Chad Hummel and Bart Dalton. Their request to have the 1977 charges against Polanski dismissed is currently pending before the state Court of Appeal.

The organizers of the Zurich Film Festival expressed “great consternation and shock” over Polanski’s arrest and said the program honoring his films would go on in his absence.

 A spokeswoman for the event, Nikki Parker, wrote in an e-mail that neither Polanski nor the organizers considered his legal status in the U.S. an issue in attending the festival because he often traveled to Switzerland and even owned a home there.

“There was no concern whatsoever,” Parker wrote.]

Polanski, now 76 and a married father of two, asked the court to throw out the entire case based on new allegations of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct detailed in an HBO documentary last year. The L.A. district attorney’s office argued that he could not make such a request while a fugitive, and an L.A. judge earlier this year agreed. A 1997 attempt at settling the case also failed.

Polanski was arrested 31 years ago at a Beverly Hills hotel after a 13-year-old girl accused him of sexually assaulting her during a photo shoot at actor Jack Nicholson's house.

A 1978 arrest warrant, issued after he failed to appear at his sentencing on the statutory-rape conviction, is still in effect, and he would be taken into custody upon arrival on U.S. soil. The director of "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" has not returned to the U.S. since then but continues to work as a director, winning an Oscar for "The Pianist."

Polanski’s stay in Switzerland could be brief if he opts to return to Los Angeles.

“If he agrees with an extradition, he could be sent to the U.S. in the next days,” said Guido Ballmer, a spokesman for the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police.

But if Polanski declines to come back without a fight -- perhaps a more likely scenario given his three decades as a fugitive -- the court process could be quite lengthy, Ballmer told The Times.

The appeals process has several layers and could last months, if not longer. 

-- Harriet Ryan and Andrew Blankstein

Photo credit: A Polanski fan waits for Zurich's Filmfestival. Polanski would have been awarded tonight with the "Golden Eye Award" for his lifework. Ennio Leanza / EPA

More coverage:

Samantha Geimer on being the victim of Polanski and the media

After several tries, U.S. officials finally nab Roman Polanski in 1970s rape case [Updated] | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

Oscar for best director Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland - LITTLE PIECE OF ADVICE: DON'T CLICK ON LINK THAT SAYS LATIMES PICTURES OF WHATSHERNAME

Oscar for best director Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland
分類：國外影劇 Category: Foreign motion picture
新聞等級： 3 News Rank: 3
（ 中央社記者顏伶如舊金山27日專電）「 戰地琴人 」奧斯卡最佳導演羅曼波蘭斯基30多年前被控與未成年少女發生性關係在美國遭起訴，為躲坐牢多年來從不返美。 (Central News Agency reporter Yan Ling such as San Francisco 27, Ta Kung Pao) "Battlefield Kotohito" Academy Award for Best Director Roman Polanski more than 30 years ago, was charged with sexual relations with underage girls in the United States prosecuted for hiding is never returned to prison for many years the United States. 昨天他在瑞士被捕，可能被引渡回美。 Yesterday, he was the Swiss was arrested, may be extradited to the United States. 法國司法當局發表聲明，生於法國巴黎、在波蘭長大的這位76歲知名導演，原本要在本屆蘇黎世電影節（Zurich Film Festival）接受表揚，但他昨天晚間飛抵瑞士時卻在蘇黎世機場立即遭到逮捕。 French judicial authorities issued a statement, was born in Paris, France, grew up in Poland, the 76-year-old well-known director, is supposed to at this Zurich Film Festival (Zurich Film Festival) to accept praise, but he flew to Switzerland last night Shique at Zurich Airport immediately arrested. 瑞士當局是以國際拘捕令（international warrant）將他扣留。 Swiss authorities based on the international arrest warrant (international warrant) will detain him. 好萊塢報導，以「戰地琴人」（The Pianist）在2003年贏得奧斯卡金像獎 （Oscar）的羅曼波蘭斯基（Roman Polanski），很可能將被引渡回到美國。 The Hollywood Reporter, with "Battlefield piano man" (The Pianist) in 2003, won the Academy Award (Oscar) in Roman Polanski (Roman Polanski), is likely to be extradited back to the U.S.. 1977年，羅曼波蘭斯基被控與年僅13歲未成年少女發生性關係，在加州遭起訴。 In 1977, Roman Polanski charged with underage girls as young as 13-year-old sexual relationship in California prosecution. 羅曼波蘭斯基後來在庭上坦承犯罪，但為了躲避牢獄之災，1978年逃離美國前往巴黎定居，多年來不曾返美。 Roman Polanski later admitted in court, crime, but in order to avoid prison, fled the United States in 1978, went to Paris to settle in over the years have not returned to the U.S.. 2003年奧斯卡頒獎典禮，他也沒有親自領取最佳導演小金人獎座。 2003 Academy Awards ceremony, he did not personally receive a trophy for best director Oscars. 980927 980,927

Whoops! The AP Publishes Internal Notes About Roman Polanski Arrest As News Story - COOL DOUBLE STORY

The Associated Press appears to have published internal communications instead of news copy in a story called "Swiss arrest Polanski on US request in sex case."

This was brought to our attention by a reader who saw it on The New York Times' site. The Times quickly switched to a Reuters edition of the story, and now has its own story.

An AP rep explains: "The internal message inadvertently became part of AP's online news feed as a result of what appears to be a case of human error and technical glitch."

Here's the AP "story," which is still published at Forbes.com. One interesting part is where an AP staffer theorizes that the Swiss arrested Polanski "because they're under intense pressure over UBS and want to throw the U.S. a bone."

Swiss arrest Polanski on US request in sex case
Associated Press, 09.27.09, 10:41 AM EDT

OK, can you do some more probing? New York will want to know
frank's out today.
i checked already, and so did zurich. they say the question is irrelevant. he answered me with the quote i used, about we knew when he was coming this time. he's been here many times in the past, we think.
thx brad. aptn is aware, but unfortunately won't make it in time, but is hoping to catch tail end.
i'm pushing out another writethru with some more background details before press conference.
no surprise, new york is really hot on this.
they particularly want to know why now. (has he never set foot in switzerland before?) sheila, theorizes that's because they're under intense pressure over ubs and want to throw the U.S. a bone, but can you check with justice department sources there?
is frank around too, or are you alone?
u can tell aptn press conf 1700 (15 gmt) in bern at the parliament
i'll watch it live on internet

Whoops! The AP Publishes Internal Notes About Roman Polanski Arrest As News Story