Back in December, Roman Polanski reminded the United States legal system that he still hasn’t actually been punished for that time he drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl. His goal was to ask the courts if they could finally get over that silly old drug and rape thing and let him back in the country, with Polanski arguing that he hasn’t drugged or raped any 13-year-old girls in the years since and also he’s still a pretty successful filmmaker—truly the two biggest indicators of innocence for a man who admitted to doing a horrible thing and then ran away. A judge denied Polanski’s request to have his rape conviction dismissed, but the U.S. actually is taking another look at the case. Unfortunately (for him), it’s not in the way he had hoped.
According to Variety, the U.S. is now trying to get Polanski extradited again. He’s currently in Poland filming An Officer And A Spy, and since he does hold Polish citizenship, the country “is not obliged” to send him back to America. It can if it wants to, though, and Variety thinks the U.S. might be able to convince Poland to cooperate. However, Polanski is apparently “popular and well-respected in Poland,” which reminds us that it’s been a while since we mentioned the fact that he drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
This isn’t the first time the U.S. has put increased pressure on a country in Europe to extradite Polanski, but, obviously, it has never actually worked in the past. Polanski will certainly be getting more attention than usual, since he’s working on a new film, so maybe that will convince the U.S. to try a little harder this time. Or maybe it’ll convince Poland to hold onto him so it doesn’t lose his movie. Either way, we’re going to keep hearing about Roman Polanski, which is all anyone ever wants.