DC Trawler

Switzerland: Home of fine chocolates, precision timepieces, and child rape

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That’s the message they just sent the world. NYT:

The justice ministry of Switzerland said on Monday that it had denied a request to extradite the director Roman Polanski to the United States, where he has been a fugitive since 1978 after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl, and that he was no longer under house arrest.

And why are they doing this? Because he’s rich and famous and Hollywood loves him. Oh wait, I mean because…

In rejecting the extradition request from the United States, the Swiss ministry cited two factors: first, the Swiss said, the U.S. had failed to provide the records of a January hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court that would have shown the judge in charge of the Polanski case in 1977 agreed that “the 42 days of detention spent by Roman Polanski in the psychiatric unit of a Californian prison represented the whole term of imprisonment he was condemned to.”

Second, the Swiss said, when Mr. Polanski traveled in September 2009 to the Zurich Film Festival where he was arrested as he arrived at the airport, he did so in “good faith” that “the journey would not entail any legal disadvantages for him.” The Swiss justice ministry noted that Mr. Polanski had been staying regularly in Switzerland since 2006, and though “he was registered in the Swiss registry of wanted persons, he was never controlled by the Swiss authorities.”

“We’re letting him go because we demanded to see his papers, and also it’s not fair that he didn’t know he was going to be arrested.”

Has Obama apologized to this creep yet?

P.S. Associated Press, May 27:

The chalet doors and windows are wide open. Deck chairs are set up on the patio and the garden is strewn with daffodils and wild flowers.

Roman Polanski appears to be leading a charmed existence under house arrest in the luxury resort of Gstaad, as he awaits word from Swiss authorities on whether he’ll be extradited to the United States for raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977…

On a recent afternoon, his home was the very picture of Alpine calm as the wind swept through two sets of open double-doors to his backyard and another to a first-floor balcony. A pair of construction workers were busy on home improvements and the jangling of cowbells could be heard in the offing.

Thank goodness the Swiss have corrected this travesty of justice.

P.P.S. Ed Morrissey:

Let’s parse this a moment, shall we? The Swiss point to no fault in the request. In fact, they admit it was “thoroughly examined.” Instead of acting on an extradition request that admittedly had no apparent fault, the Swiss refused because it might have a fault. Somewhere.

What, are Swiss lawyers that incompetent?

P.P.P.S. Lest we judge the Swiss too harshly, let’s not forget:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fasb7tHv8XU
Jim Treacher