USA – JUSTICE: France distances itself from Polanski after backlash
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Reuters – France’s government changed its tone on Wednesday on the arrest of Roman Polanski for having sex with a 13-year-old girl, describing the charges as serious after initially rushing to the film director’s defence.
France and Poland, where the 76-year-old Oscar-winning director spent his childhood, at first loudly protested against Polanski’s arrest last weekend.S.
But U.
After French politicians across the spectrum initially voiced strong unease over the arrest, a government spokesperson modified the official line on Wednesday, saying that Polanski was neither above nor below the law. .S.
A judicial procedure is under way concerning a serious case, the rape of a minor, and the U.
On the other hand, there’s emotion, and we can understand the emotion stirred up by this belated arrest, more than 30 years after the events, and the method of the arrest, he said. and Swiss justice systems are doing their work, spokesperson Luc Chatel told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
France’s political and artistic elite defended him, with Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand accusing the United States of showing a frightening face by seeking his extradition.
Polanski, who holds dual French and Polish citizenship, was arrested at the request of the United States when he flew into Switzerland on Saturday to receive a lifetime achievement prize. But this is a matter that is not before me, this is a matter that is in the justice system of our government, she said.
Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he had written to Clinton, who told reporters at the United Nations on Wednesday that she had not yet seen the letter.
Several French politicians, including members of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s own UMP party, have accused the government of elitism and acting in haste.
Polanski pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with the girl in actor Jack Nicholson’s home, skipped bail and fled to France.
Extreme right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen denounced a political-artistic caste claiming special privileges. Green Member of the European Parliament Daniel Cohn-Bendit said Mitterrand should have waited before more details of the case were known.
Poland has also changed its tone, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk urging moderation.
Charges of raping a 13-year-old child, that’s not something trivial, UMP parliamentarian Marc Laffineur said. On Sunday, the culture ministry said Sarkozy wanted Polanski’s swift release.
Sarkozy himself has refrained from speaking out.
arrests – cinema – France – Roman Polanski – Switzerland
. But on Wednesday, Chatel said Sarkozy was feeling the same range of emotions that I and all French people share