David Dastych - I have been following the Polanski case for the last few days, since his arrest in Zurich, Switzerland, on the 26th of September 2009. This is a very strange arrest, after 31 years since his crime (1977).

On September 29, a spokeswoman for Department of Justice (DoJ) told a Polish TV channel that most probably Polanski’s arrest in Switzerland was caused by a blunt letter of his French lawyers to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office of California.

As the crime (a rape of a minor, 13 year-old-girl) is 31 years old, and as Polanski is still chased for it, as he has fled from the U.S.A. before the trial, his French lawyers demanded that the case be closed as prescribed. But the U.S. law allegedly has no prescription for such crimes.

Roman Polanski is a French citizen and he owns a house in Switzerland and has visited that country very often without any harrassment. But probably that unfortunate demand of his lawyers to the California Public Prosecutor’s Office caused that the case was “unearthed” again and an arrest warrant was issued.

The timing was perfect: Polanski was to receive a top prize, Lifetime Achievement Award, at a Zurich Film Festival for the whole of his undoubfully great artistic achievements. His arrival to Zurich was made public in advance. He was arrested at the airport and put in jail (“a provisional detention”), awaiting extradiction to the U.S.A.

The film media, his fans and many public officials in Europe, the U.S.A., and also in Poland have been shocked. But from the legal side, the arrest holds water. In spite of public protests in many countries of the world, the famous film director has to await the extradiction procedure. He might be probably released from detention on bail but still he has to stay in Zurich and show in court.

Roman Polanski is 76 years old by now and he has a French wife and two children. Since that crazy party in Hollywood in 1977, he never commited any crime but became world-famous for his excellent work as film director, producer and actor. His first Hollywood movie was Rosemary’s Baby (1968), followed by Chinatown (1973). Chinatown is considered Polanski’s greatest achievement as a filmmaker. After fleeing to Europe, he made Tess (1979), For Tess, Polanski won French César Awards for Best Picture and Best Director and received his fourth Academy Award nomination.

In 2002 Polanski released The Pianist, a World War II-set adaptation of the autobiography of the same name by Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman, whose experiences have similarities with Polanski’s own (Polanski, like Szpilman, escaped the ghetto and the concentration camps, whilst family members did not). In May 2002, the film won the Palme d’Or (Golden Palm) award at theCannes Film Festival, as well as Césars for Best Film and Best Director, and later the 2002 Academy Award for Directing. Polanski did not attend the Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood because he would have been arrested once he set foot in the United States.

In September 2009 Polanski was awarded a lifetime achievement “Golden Icon Award” by the Zurich Film Festival, which he was travelling to receive when he was arrested on 26 September. (Wikipedia).

His personal life was not happy until he married the French actress Emmanuelle Seigner in 1989. They have two children, daughter Morgane and son Elvis, who is named after Polanski’s favorite singer, Elvis Presley. His first wife was a Polish actress Barbara Lass (née Barbara Kwiatkowska) and his second wife Sharon Tate.

On August 9, 1969, Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant with the couple’s first child (a boy), and four others (Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Steven Parent) were brutally murdered by members of Charles Manson’s “Family”, who entered the Polanskis’ rented home at 10050 Cielo Drive in the Hollywood Hills intending to “kill everyone there” (Wikipedia).

In 1977, Polanski, then aged 44, became embroiled in a sex scandal involving 13-year-old Samantha Gailey (now Samantha Geimer). It ultimately led to Polanski’s guilty plea to the charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Afraid of being jailed for life, he fled from the U.S.A. Polanski escaped initially to London on February 1, 1978, where he maintained residency. A day later he traveled on to France, where he held citizenship, avoiding the risk of extradition to the U.S. by Britain (Wikipedia).

After his arrest in Switzerland,the United States must make a formal extradition request within 40 days to have Polanski extradited and stand trial.

What will happen to Roman Polanski then? I won’t make any guess. Most probably the case will be settled finally and he might avoid prison and receive a permission to visit the United States again. This could be a positive solution. But who knows what’s in store…

This article was first published on Canada Free Press
David Dastych is a veteran journalist who served both in the Polish intelligence and the CIA; jailed in Poland by the Communist regime he spent several years in special prison wards; released in early 1990’s he joined international efforts to monitor illegal nuclear trade in Europe and Asia; handicapped for lifetime in a mountain accident in France, in 1994; now he returned to active life and runs his own media agency in Warsaw.