Associated Press online Polanski balls-up
p2pnet news view P2P:- In a major screw-up, the Associated Press ran internal notes about the arrest of film director Roman Polanski instead of a story.
“The document details an exchange of messages between reporters about Mr Polanski, who was held in Switzerland and faces extradition to the US,” says the BBC.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office wants Polanski extradited from Switzerland to face charges that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl three decades ago.
When he arrived at the Zurich airport Saturday night, “for a well-publicized appearance, Swiss officials armed with a U.S. arrest warrant took him into custody,” says the Los Angeles Times, going on »»»
The arrest touches off extradition proceedings that could return the filmmaker to the United States to face the child sex case he fled in 1978.
The county district attorney’s office, which prosecuted Polanski 32 years ago for the sexual assault and has battled the director in the last year over his attempts to have the controversial case dismissed, initiated the arrest last week when it learned of his travel plans to Zurich.
“It wasn’t any secret. It was on the Internet. They were selling tickets to it,” said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the office. She said prosecutors prepared a provisional warrant and sent it to U.S. Justice Department officials, who presented it to Swiss authorities.
The arrest stunned Polanski, who has long lived in Paris, where his French citizenship protects him from extradition. His attorneys in the U.S. and France said that despite his fugitive status in the United States, the director routinely travels throughout Europe. He owns a chalet in the Swiss ski resort of Gstaad, and festival organizers said they never considered his U.S. legal problems when recruiting him to headline their event by accepting a lifetime achievement award.
In the AP document accidentally published online, “OK, can you do some more probing?” asks the AP guy, as per:
Sidewiki (noun): a browser sidebar that enables you to contribute and read helpful information alongside any web page (source: Google.com)
or
Sidewiki (noun): an attempt by our online colonial masters to own all of the comments on our websites (source: Andrew Keen)
… as journalism.co.uk notes.
“New York will want to know,” says the item, continung »»»
frank’s out today.
i checked already, and so did zurich. they say the question is irrelevant. he answered me with the quote i used, about we knew when he was coming this time. he’s been here many times in the past, we think.
thx brad. aptn is aware, but unfortunately won’t make it in time, but is hoping to catch tail end.
i’m pushing out another writethru with some more background details before press conference.
no surprise, new york is really hot on this.
they particularly want to know why now. (has he never set foot in switzerland before?) sheila, theorizes that’s because they’re under intense pressure over ubs and want to throw the U.S. a bone, but can yo ucheck with justice department sources there?
is frank around too, or are you alone?
u can tell aptn press conf 1700 (15 gmt) in bern at the parliament
i’ll watch it live on internet
So will a lot of others. 
Stay tuned.
BBC – Polanski notes leaked on to net, September 28, 2009
Los Angeles Times – Roman Polanski arrest becomes an international incident, September 28, 2009
journalism.co.uk – Sidewiki: some journalistic questions for Google, September 24, 2009
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September 28th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
The girl he molested wants the charges dropped. She’s forgiven him and says that the on-going drama of him being a fugitive and the authorities continuing to focus on all the details of the case keep her from putting it in the past, but the US refuses to let it go.
There’s something wrong when the victim in a case doesn’t even have any influence over what happens with the legal system. If he’d stolen money from her, she could easily refuse to press charges but because sex was involved, she has no say in the matter.
September 28th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
He isn’t being prosecuted on behalf of that girl alone. He’s being prosecuted on behalf of society. Society demands prosecution, whatever the victim may say.
September 28th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
On behalf of the state rather.
September 28th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
That is the whole point.
Roman had already pleaded to statutory rape with a thirteen year old girl in 1978 long before the pedophiliac sentencing inhancement was amended to the California criminial code and the three strikes law for repeat career criminials.
By today standards Polanski could be serve time in prison for 25 to 60 years in San Quentin.
Come to think about the state of California is completely fucking heartless when it comes to felony drug possession or drug dealing.
Again many years in prison in San Quentin or Folsom prison.
For the rottonest of rotten violent criminials are incarcerated in Pelican Bay state prison that makes Alcatraz or Sing Sing and Attica prison look like a boy scout camps.
I don’t feel sorry for him……………..
September 28th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
It’s nothing to do with Polanski.
It’s against our policy building good relationship with the rest of the world
There is social force that would like restore confrontation .
September 28th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
The pedophile plead guilty and ran away where officials from other states hid the pedophile so he didn’t have to serve his sentence. Rot in hell Polanski, and I hope those whom sheltered you follow soon behind you.
I do believe we (the US) needs to improve our international relations, but there’s a bare minimum we as a society cannot stand for. Pedophilia is well below that line.
July 13th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Had Polanski done what he was supposed to do and serve his time, starting back in the 1970’s instead of running away and being protected by cowardly countries, then the situation would have been settleed.