Roman Polanski is responsible for one of our favorite go-to movie quotes, the always hilarious “My sister! My daughter!” line from Chinatown. Know what else he’s responsible for? Raping and drugging a girl in 1977. As an auteur, we respect him and his films, but as a person, the guy has behaved really badly. But Roman doesn’t see it that way (shocker) and this weekend he released a statement about how his 2009 arrest for fleeing the U.S. has made him a victim too.
Polanski was tried and served a light sentence (45 days in jail) in 1977, and feels that his fleeing the country after a judge changed his mind and wanted Polanski to serve a longer sentence was justified. Part of Polanski’s statement is below (the whole thing can be found over at Deadline.com):
“I ask only to be treated fairly like anyone else. . .I can remain silent no longer because the request for my extradition addressed to the Swiss authorities is founded on a lie. The said request asserts that I fled in order to escape sentencing by the U.S. judicial authorities, but under the plea-bargaining process I had acknowledged the facts and returned to the United States in order to serve my sentence. All that remained was for the court to confirm this agreement, but the judge decided to repudiate it in order to gain himself some publicity at my expense.”
Polanski also aligns himself with his victim, who is now 45, and has asked that the charges against Polanski be dropped so she herself can get on with her life. Seems like a very odd move to make on Polanski’s part (one we definitely would not have made) but then again, we wouldn’t have raped and drugged a 13-year-old. Dozens of Hollywood celebs have spoken out in defense of Polanski, but we’re not really feeling the love. Should his pleas for freedoms should be heard, or should he be brought back to the States to serve additional time? Guess it’s up to the judge now.
[Photo: Getty Images]
