Oscar-Winner Roman Polanski Arrested in Switzerland

Hollywood, CA (RPRN) 09/27/09 — Polanski Arrest Stirs Passions Worldwide September 27th, 2009

He has been a fugitive for 31 years from sex with a minor conviction in California

The French are in an uproar over the arrest of Roman Polanski in Switzerland. Swiss police picked up the famed director on a 31-year-old international warrant over sex with a minor child charges. He may be extradited back to Los Angeles to face the music. Polanksi was arrested in 1978 in Los Angeles for having unlawful sex with then 13-year-old Samantha Geimer after bringing the girl to Jack Nicholson’s house and drugging her. Polanksi, fleed the U.S. before sentencing, and has been a frequent fleer ever since.

He created such classics as “Chinatown” and “Rosemary’s Baby.” He even won an Oscar in 2002 for “The Pianist” and Harrison Ford accepted for him, given his fugitive status. He has appeared in Oscarcasts, but of course by video. He generally makes his films in France, but headed to Switzerland to accept a life achievement award at a film fest there. The Swiss say America needs to make a formal extradition proposal, but in the atmosphere of the uproar over the McKenzie Philips revelations about childhood sex with her father, it is likely the government will go through with the extradition case, no matter what Hollywood or France thinks. Even Geimer is against the extradition, saying she wants to put it all behind her.

In Paris, where Mr. Polanski was born and now lives, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had spoken with his Swiss counterpart, Micheline Calmy-Rey, and communicated “the desire of the French authorities that the rights of Mr. Polanski be fully respected and that this affair rapidly find a favorable resolution.” The French culture minister, Frederic Mitterrand, also said in a statement that he was “astonished” by the arrest.

Polanski is the former-husband of Sharon Tate, the actress murdered by the Charles Manson's cult followers.

photo credit: Hollywood Today