France, Polanski and respect for the Law.
I have always associated France with surrealism after, at a fairly young age, seeing those amazing photos of early 1920s surrealist art by Duchamp, Ernst and others. In recent days this surrealist experience has returned with a vengeance in the bizarre case of Roman Polanski, with a reported 62% of French people believing that the arrest of Polanski in Switzerland was an unjustified affront to a long-standing resident “artist” and citizen of France.
The strongest condemnation of this arrest was initially by the French Minister of Culture, Mr Frédéric Mitterand, who said the affair “had no sense” and who expressed his “profound emotion” at the arrest of this “film director of international repute.”
A little later these words were supported by both President Sarkozy and Bernard Kouchner, the much-respected creator of “Médecins Sans Frontières” (Doctors without Borders – a wonderful charity which sends volunteer doctors to world trouble spots).
So, a large part of the French elite and it seems 62% of “the public” are outraged by the arrest of Polanski in Switzerland, where a vigilant policeman realized that a long-standing international arrest-warrant issued in the USA was still open and acted accordingly.
Let us review the key facts. In March 1977 Polanski was arrested at the home of Jack Nicholson (who was away at the time) and charged by a Grand Jury with the following:
- giving a drug to a minor
- committing a lewd act upon a person less than 14
- rape of a minor
- rape by use of a drug
- oral copulation and sodomy
It seems clear that Polanski had recently met the girl’s mother and arranged for the girl to pose for some photographs for the French edition of Vogue magazine and that it was this promise that helped lure the girl to Nicholson’s house,
Polanski was ordered to take psychiatric tests and at his arraignment pleaded guilty to one of the lesser charges, the mother of the assaulted girl having asked for the other charges to be dropped to avoid further distress to her daughter.
Before Polanski was due to be sentenced on the lesser charge, to which he pleaded guilty, he jumped bail and fled to France, which refused to extradite him. He has of course been unable to return to the US since then.
To summarize:
- From the public record of the events there is prima facie evidence that he drugged then raped a thirteen-year-old girl.
- He pleaded to the lesser of one of six charges and thereby escaped trial.
- The child’s mother had pleaded for a lesser charge to be applied in the interests of saving her daughter further distress.
- Before he could be sentenced for the crime to which he had pleaded guilty he absconded.
- Justice has not been done; he has never paid for his crimes, even for the less serious one to which he pleaded guilty.
France had for decades refused to extradite Polanski, who had become a French citizen. It therefore placed its own citizens’ personal interests above those of international justice, much the same as Russia in refusing to extradite the presumed murderers of Alexander Litvinenko in London. It thereby lowered itself to the same base standards of Russia, by all accounts something of a Mafia state.
Not content with that, when a neighbour state – complying totally, openly and correctly with international law – arrested Polanski, the French elite, as represented by the Minister of Culture, declared itself “outraged”.
I feel sure that whatever outrage was felt by Minister Mitterand was more than matched by the outrage felt by those who DO believe in international justice. In former times, both France and the USA shared the ideals of freedom and justice, and the law is the arbiter – for better or worse – of justice. There are several points that spring to mind in this affair:
- Had the crime been committed by a French citizen in France, what would the reaction have been of the French elite in this case?
- Suppose the crime had been committed by an American citizen on a young French girl in France? What would have been the reaction of the French “elite” then? I can imagine the answer. There would have been a tremendous media tsunami of high ground morality and railing against “these Anglo-Saxons’ lack of respect’ and so on …
- Mr Mitterand referred to Polanski as “a film director of international repute”, yet this is a fact of unsurpassing irrelevance; was Mr Mitterand suggesting that artists are somehow above the law?
Unfortunately, the grotesque hypocrisy of the French “elite” is only too clear.
Then of course the major instigator of the criticisms of the arrest came from Mr Frédéric Mitterand, and it is alleged that as a homosexual he is a self-confessed serial payer of rent boys in Thailand. Now there is some doubt about the age of these boys, but in any case the degree of exploitation by a rich westerner of young Asian men is not in doubt. And this from the Minister of Culture. Now I don’t know about you, but for me culture represents perhaps the highest qualities of Man. No other species admires beauty and the creative instinct for its own sake, and I feel distinctly uneasy about a Minister for Culture representing the highest values of the Human Spirit being someone who pays rent boys.
Even more worrying is the reported survey showing he has wide public support. In other words, it is claimed that a majority of French people do not believe Polanski should ever face justice for what was a particularly nasty crime on a girl of thirteen.
It is said that the victim “has forgiven him” …. Very good, and no doubt she has done all she could to put that night out of her mind. It is reported that Polanski is “depressed” by these events …. I wonder if we can compare his depression to that which his victim no doubt felt, possibly for years? It is claimed that at the time of the crimes Polanski was “depressed” and “disturbed” because of the previous murder of his wife Sharon Tate. One has compassion for someone who has suffered such a loss, but many people suffer losses and trauma in their lives; this does not justify them committing crimes and in particular the rape by a 44 year-old man of a 13 year-old.
Fundamentally, the question these events throw up is how on earth could so many people come to have their sense of decency and priorities so warped in this way?
- Is it because so long has elapsed since the crimes? That is purely the fault of France, which refused for decades to extradite him.
- Is it because he is an artist? This of course is an argument deserving of utter contempt.
- Is it because “he has suffered enough”? Well, how do they know and it is in any case not their place to judge. None of us can second-guess the law, otherwise there IS no law.
- Is it because Polanski is now French and it is the Americans (such an uncouth, uncultured, rough bunch of invaders) who seek his extradition?
As for the quoted 62% of French who support Mr Mitterand’s extreme views, I take this with some pinch of salt. There are after all lies, statistics and surveys …. and in any case, people often follow the lead (as if they shouldn’t by now know better) of their leaders, and so I firmly blame the French establishment.
However, having said that, a good many in the French parliament and elsewhere were shocked by the rapid defence of Culture Minister Mitterand’s remarks. “Even if one is famous one should respect the law.” said one Deputy. Well done, Sir, since that has not always been the case in France. Ex President Chirac is known to have run a Paris Town Hall that committed many crimes of fraud and theft of public funds on his patch, yet to this day he is a free, unarraigned and respected member of the French elite.
Sadly, this affair shows only too clearly how so many people can lose their sense of perspective and justice when nationalism gets in the way, since, I personally suspect, that deep down this is the real reason for the anti-American stance.
And, of course, nationalism is the most base, stupid and destructive force known to man. One had hoped that its force would be weakening in western democracies, but one fears that progress is but skin deep and that the true Heaven on Earth of the nation-blind Brotherhood of Man is still some way off ……
By Chris Snuggs
Learning from Dogs 
Curious: polls in France showed 70% of the French approving of the arrest.
Agreed about nationalism being bad, but, surely it starts with accusing other nations of what they do not stand for.
You seem to ignore that, even for capital crimes, no one can be prosecuted in France for crimes committed more than 20 years ago. Crimes against mankind are the only exception. It’s basic rationality, not surrealism. It’s surreal to believe a suspect can prove his/her innocence 40 years after the facts. except when crimes were committed against mankind.
Now, for the rest of the Polanski affair, in light of the USA failing to prosecute the system of thought that supported and advocated torture, I have a lot to say. The Red Herring is blatant, though: we now prosecute a particular individual for having drugged a minor, supposedly, decades ago, but torturers and financiers would never do such a terrible thing, and are not even suspects: they are beyond any suspicion.
How do we know this? Because we prosecute the one who drugged the child, decades ago, throughout the universe. Fables for little children will put them to sleep.
OK, some other time.
PA
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Patrice, I wondered if you would comment on Chris’s Post. He has yet to realise how much of this Blog is under your watchful eye 😉 He was my Director of Studies when I used to teach entrepreneurship at ISUGA, see http://asia.isuga.fr/en in Quimper, Brittany and I got to know this fellow Englishman well: an interesting person.
Paul
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Dear Paul:
I have been holding back on the Polanski affair, not wanting to antagonize too many people. I have written a more extensive answer, but I was afraid it would generate too much heat. Sex related stories have a way to make people rise, heat up, flush and gush…
I already pushed my luck on my comments on Mr. Snuggs anti-CERN stance (as I pointed out in a more extensive article on my site, it is far from Mr. Snuggs’ fault: physicists have mixed up particle physics way too much with the Big Bang (a somewhat dubious theory, or let’s say all too bold), totally exasperating even a fanatical physicist such as me.
I find Mr. Snuggs interesting, because he takes stances. Stances are good. What is enounced fiercely can be denounced clearly.
I have been working hard on an article on mathematics, which I view as breaking new, interesting ground, whereas “Polanski” is mostly about the usual dread of high finance, red herrings, dysfunctional American justice, Anglo-Saxon bias, etc… Flying high, or flying low, that is the question…
Polanski has had a major chalet at Gstaad, in Suisse, where he spent all his summers, in Suisse, once again, for years, and years, with his children, and was the principal guest at the festival he had been invited to. He has attended festivals in Switzerland such as Montreux, for years. He was no doubt surprised about what happened.
In other words, the entire Polanski brouhaha is a deliberate distraction made in the USA, to persuade the gullible ones that American justice is beyond any suspicion… I wonder if it fools even Pakistanis, at this stage. But as long as it fools Americans, the Wall Street establishment is OK.
But thanks for your interest, Paul, thus I may develop the subject, hoping that Mr. Snuggs does not take offense…
Patrice
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Patrice
Good afternoon …. fascinating comments …. first of all, I know very little about particle physics but am like you absolutely entranced by it. Being “good” at languages at school I had to give up science at the age of 16, which even then I regarded as a tragedy in personal terms. Not that I was particularly good at science – far from it – but I loved studying it and having an avenue of exciting learning cut off like a limb was tough, even if I ultimately did OK at languages, and occasionally found time to pursue science as an amateur.
I recently read a quite brilliant book called “The Ascent of Science” by Brian Silver. This is a thick book recording the history of scientific advance and if forced to choose my favourite book of all time it would be a toss between this one and “Treasure Island”. I have spent hours reading and re-reading the chapters on relativity, quantum mechanics and other stuff, understanding little but fascinated all the same.
As for CERN, it is a value judgement and as I tried to argue a question of priorities. I don’t deny it is exciting. However, as you are the specialist, can you see any great benefits trickling down to the troubled people of the world?
As for Polanski, I have to confess to taking a somewhat simplistic approach to many problems. Well, I say “simplistic”; but to be fair to myself (who else will be?) I try – and no doubt fail – to cut to the crux and attack “the bottom line”. And the bottom line for me re Polansi is that justice should be done and seen to be done. He should not have absconded from the court and should have faced up to what he had done – or of course had not done. If the Americans are playing political games as you suggest then shame on them; that does not invalidate my premise. Well, as far as I am concerned, but others may differ.
Actually, the main point I was making was to lament the nationalistic aspects that I suspect lie behind all this. I hate “anti-Americanism”, French or otherwise. In fact, I hate all nationalistic sentiment.
LONDON BUSES!! As you know, you can wait ages for one to arrive and then blow me if two don’t arrive at the same time!! Well, a German doctor has just been kidnapped by hired Russian thugs, taken to France and dumped near a courthouse. He was picked up by the police, locked up and then taken to Paris, where he faces a manslaughter charge. I say “faces”, but in fact he was already given a 15 year jail sentence in absentia.
What happened some years ago (15 I think) was that his French step-daughter came to visit with him and her mother in Lindau, not far from where I live. One day he gave her an injection and she died. The circumstances are murky, but subsequent forensic and police investigations in Germany proved inconclusive and the Germans did not charge him with any offence. However, the French authorities did, and as described above even though he was kidnapped they have whisked him off to face justice.
What I find bizarre is that A) he could be sentenced to 15 years without a trial and B) that if there was a warrant for his arrest in France the Germans refused to extradite him and C) that given his kidnapping the French refuse to liberate him. I await with interest the developments in this case but it could lead to a very nasty spat between Europe’s two closest allies …
“Taking a stance” – that is an interesting and perceptive comment ….. I recently decided that one could spend all one’s live weighing the arguments, checking the pro’s and con’s, being fair to all opinions and so on, but where does thaat get us? In the end, fence-sitting is not very productive, since real decisions have to be made. I modestly give myself some small credit for sticking my head above the parapet …. As it happens, I did weigh up the pro’s and con’s of CERN (as far as I could assess them, freely admitting that for the science I am poorly informed) but in the end, I put myself in the place of that African villager begging for medicine …
Well, end of discussion …. perhaps, but if there is “development”, I shall follow it avidly! As for “taking offence”, I much appreciate that might be a consideration for you …. I am here to learn as much as anything else, and the opportunity to learn from experts like you is a great privilege. Having one’s errors pointed out to one when this is backed by reason and research is never something one could or should take offence at!
So, I shall continue to make errors and you’ll continue I hope to put me right and one day I hope – possibly – the boot might be on the other foot!
ATB
Chris
Well, congratulations on your
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Patrice,
When I started this Blog (actually born out of an idea that Jon and I had together) I really had no idea where it was going to lead. Perhaps that is akin to the way a dog follows a scent without, maybe, any expectation as to the reward?
But now that I see a glimpse into the sort of debates that are possible, then I know what we authors, and supporters, are trying to achieve. The world is being ‘dumbed down’ in so many areas at an alarming rate. It means that those that wish to debate seriously, without malice, important issues that affect society are to be supported by whatever means possible. The alternative is very frightening.
Thus your words are truly appreciated by us all.
By the way, there appears to be a weakness in WordPress in that when a person who is ‘approved’ to submit comments makes further comments this is not signalled at an admin level, so to speak. Thus I may not see comments immediately.
Paul
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Thus I may not see comments immediately.
You mean I can sneak in something under the radar before it gets pulled?!!
Chris
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Publish and be damned, say I!
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