[Eisdrache]

Originally Posted by mg1942

and to heck with Swiss neutrality

UBS AG giving 4,450 Names to U.S. gov sets bad precedent

Excuse me sir, but as a swiss person I have to ask you what the hell has giving out names of people who are guilty of tax fraud have to do with neutrality?

Originally Posted by Fipskuul

I really don't understand the need to punish him after 30 years, considering that the child molested by Polanski got over it long time ago, and he had already suffered the consequences and got acquitted at the end in the eyes of the community he belongs to, and a non-negligible portion of the society. Yes, his troubled past might have a lot to do with this, and also his actions afterwards telling that it was a single bad mistake not an incident of repetitive nature.

I also didn't understand, if those really happened at the time, why he was given the freedom to flee the country. To me it is a bit late to search for justice, even though it may look as the right thing to do. I think people need to hear what the victim says about this case.

For your second point, I do agree that he shouldnt have had the right to travel around. But your first point is utterly ridiculous.

People really need to understand that it does not matter how much time has passed between the incident and the arrest. Having sex with minors does not fall under the statute of limitation in the USA so any argument with "30 years later is too late" has no merit at all. Just because 30 years have passed and the victim has forgiven him does ABSOLUTELY NOT mean that Polanski should not be judged. And by judged I mean the usual punishment of 50 years in jail in the USA.

The same goes for the argument that "it was only a one time mistake and he has proven not to be a repetual offender" thing. So what? By saying this you just have accepted that any criminal, no matter how serious the crime, should not be punished if he doesnt do it a second time. Why do we have have laws then? Roman Polanski does not stand above the law and has to be judged like every other criminal as well.

It does not matter if he had a sad past. It does not matter if he is a famous director. It does not matter if the victim has forgiven him. Arresting Polanski was the only correct thing the police could have done.