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At last, a hint of sanity…from the French

Oh my…

French drop Polanski release call

The French government has dropped its public support for Roman Polanski, saying the 76-year-old director “is neither above nor beneath the law”.

[…]

Speaking to reporters, French government spokesman Luc Chatel said: "We have a judicial procedure under way, for a serious affair, the rape of a minor, on which the American and Swiss legal systems are doing their job."

[…]

[T]he Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has distanced himself from the move by asking his ministers to show "greater restraint" in defending him.

He added that despite a "leading Polish director" being involved, it is still a "case of rape and of punishment for having sex with a child".

A member of the British parliament has called on the Council of Europe, of which he is also a member, to support Polanski's extradition to the US.

Denis MacShane said the film-maker "should be held accountable" for his actions.

Both the French and Polish foreign ministers had original protested Polanski’s arrest in Switzerland and demanded his release. Now, both countries have gone about face, and bravo for them.

And note the contrast in language. Over a hundred members of the film community have signed a petition calling for Polanski’s release. This is how they summarize the central issue:

His arrest follows an American arrest warrant dating from 1978 against the filmmaker, in a case of morals.

Emphasis mine, because, for crying out loud, they’ve reduced felony sexual misconduct with a minor down to “a case of morals.” How amoral do you have to be to pervert language and distort facts in such a way?

Contrast that with how the French describe the matter: “a serious affair, the rape of a minor.” Or the Poles: a “case of rape and of punishment with having sex with a child.”

Morally clear and to the point, a concise statement of the central fact of the case.

There’s also a subtext here I find interesting. Polanski fled to France, where he was and is a citizen, because he knew that the French would never extradite him back to the United States. And, of course, they didn’t. Under French law, they couldn’t.

But now that he’s out of France and in Swiss custody, they publically state “the American and Swiss legal systems are doing their job.” It’s almost as if they’re glad to be rid of him, of the notoriety of being forced to shield a child rapist.

Maybe France isn’t such a bad place after all.

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