In 1977, when Chinatown director Roman Polanski was 44 years old, he asked the mother of 13-year-old Samantha Gailey if he could take some pictures of the girl for the French edition of Vogue. Gailey’s mother agreed. During a photo shoot in the Los Angeles home of Jack Nicholson (who was not present), Polanski took nude photos of the resistant girl after giving her champagne and qualudes, and then raped and sodomized her.

Polanski was charged with rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, and lewd and lascivious acts upon a child under 14. He made a plea bargain, and the charge was reduced to engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. After pleading guilty and serving part of his sentence in state prison, Polanski was released, under terms of the plea agreement, to work on his then-current film. He took this opportunity to flee to Britain and then France, where he has lived ever since. France has refused all requests for extradition.

Then he decided to attend a film festival being held in his honor in Switzerland, and got nabbed in the Zurich airport Saturday night.

Better late than never, right? Not if you’re Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post, who protests:

Here are some of the facts: Polanski’s crime — statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl — was committed in 1977. The girl, now 45, has said more than once that she forgives him, that she can live with the memory, that she does not want him to be put back in court or in jail, and that a new trial will hurt her husband and children. There is evidence of judicial misconduct in the original trial. There is evidence that Polanski did not know her real age. Polanski, who panicked and fled the U.S. during that trial, has been pursued by this case for 30 years, during which time he has never returned to America, has never returned to the United Kingdom, has avoided many other countries, and has never been convicted of anything else. He did commit a crime, but he has paid for the crime in many, many ways: In notoriety, in lawyers’ fees, in professional stigma. He could not return to Los Angeles to receive his recent Oscar. He cannot visit Hollywood to direct or cast a film.

Putting aside some of the logic problems here (If Polanski didn’t know the girl was underage, why did he ask for her mother’s permission to photograph her? If he’s paid for his crime in “professional stigma,” how did he get nominated for an Oscar, let alone win one? If a victim forgives her attacker, does that mean no crime was committed and he’s free to evade lawful punishment?), Applebaum has bigger problems right now.

LA-based blogger Patterico reports:

Applebaum failed to mention that her husband is a Polish foreign minister who is lobbying for Polanski’s case to be dismissed:

In Polanski’s native Poland, President Lech Kaczynski and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said they would appeal to US authorities to drop proceedings against Polanski.

The PAP news agency said Sikorski was consideri[ng] a direct appeal to US President Barack Obama to end ‘once and for all’ the proceedings against the filmmaker.

Radoslaw Sikorski is married to Anne Applebaum:

Anne Applebaum is a columnist for the Washington Post and Slate. . . . Her husband, Radoslaw Sikorski, is a Polish politician and writer.

Applebaum failed to mention this little fact.

So at the same time that she was giving readers a fact-challenged screed in support of Polanski, she was failing to disclose that her husband was a Polish official who was lobbying for Polanski’s freedom.

I work for the L.A. County District Attorney’s office, which is seeking Polanski’s extradition; that is no secret to anyone who reads this blog (nor is it a secret that I do not speak on behalf of my office on this blog). By contrast, it is not well known to Applebaum’s readers that her husband is a Polish official actively involved in the effort on Polanski’s behalf.

This conflict of interest would be tough to overlook even if Applebaum’s column made complete sense and wasn’t morally repugnant. That is, unless you think someone should be above the law because he makes movies that French people like.

Update: In addition to Applebaum’s aforementioned sins, she’s not a very good liar.