(Thumbnail image from EW.com)
31 years ago movie director Roman Polanski was charged with unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. He quickly fled the United States to Europe before he could be thrown in jail. European governments have declined to extradite him back to the U.S., but over the weekend Switzerland arrested him and plans to return him.
Media outlets around the world are covering the story looking at everything from his life story, to world politics to whether he deserves jail or freedom. We get insight from France24, Washington Post, NBC, FOX, BBC and the Huffington Post.
France 24 looks at how Polanski’s arrest has ignited tensions between Europe and the U.S. about how America has continued to pursue Polanski, whom many in Europe consider to be a hero.
“His arrest prompted a surprise official reaction. The French President is following the case very closely and we share the same emotions. There’s a generous side to America that we love and then again there’s the America that’s scary.”
The Washington Post highlights why many believe Polanski decided to become a fugitive in the first place. He had initially been offered a plea deal of 42 days undergoing psychiatric evaluation but,
“...the judge in the case…sent word that he would not honor the plea bargain and was inclined to send a stern message. Rather than face as much as 50 years in prison, Polanski skipped bail. The consensus of the prosecutor, the defense attorney, journalists and others was that the judge's decision was driven by his exceptional appetite for publicity.”
NBC News’ Dawna Friesen profiles Polanski’s life to this point – a tale of high highs and low lows. Some of Polanski's defenders have said he has suffered enough in his life.
“Polanski who is Jewish lost his mother in Auschwitz the Nazi death camp and in 1969 his pregnant wife Sharon Tait was brutally murdered by followers of Charles Manson. Tait’s killer Susan Atkins died last week in prison from brain cancer.”
But FOX News’ Jeffrey Shapiro has no sympathy for Polanski, writing the following in a damning blog on FOX.com.
“...all people deserve equal treatment under the law, regardless of how wealthy, popular or powerful they may be. Whenever justice is denied, society suffers as a whole and it sends a message to other would-be sexual predators and criminals that they can evade justice as well.”
The BBC’s story raises a much different question: If Polanski’s victim has forgiven him, what’s the point?
“The authorities never gave up the chase even thought his victim Samantha Geimer later forgave him.” “I’ve had a long time to get over it and I wouldn’t want to carry hard feelings around with me for my whole life.”
But a former District Attorney on FOX believes Geimer’s feelings don’t change the truth of what she experienced in 1977.
“She didn’t say it didn’t happen, she just said I forgive him, well that’s part of her therapy or whatever she’s going through. The bottom line is the charges, the people of the State of California versus a pedophile. It’s got nothing to do with her concerns, however many years later, 32.”
We want to know what you think. Is the United States overstepping its bounds by continuing to pursue Roman Polanski, or should he be punished for a crime he allegedly committed more than three decades ago.
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