In the last three years, in addition to Samantha Geimer (née Gailey) and Charlotte Lewis, ten other women would implicate Roman Polanski, who disputes these new accusations of rape or sexual assault. The facts they denounce are all over forty years old. They are ancient, and would all be prescribed. There is therefore little chance that there will ever be a trial.
Those who testify publicly
Five of these women testify publicly, and their faces are known. Robin M. claims to have been sexually assaulted by the filmmaker in 1973, at the age of 16. Renate Langer, a former German actress, says she was raped twice when she was 15. Marianne Barnard, American artist, claims to have been sexually assaulted during a photoshoot on a beach in California. She was only 10 years old. Mallory Millet, ex-American actress, assures us that Roman Polanski tried to rape her twice, without success. She was 29 years old. The latest, the former French actress and photographer Valentine Monnier, said to have been raped and beaten by the director in Gstaad, when she was 18 years old.
A site created in 2017 “to collect the voices of women”
Five accusers are said to have come forward anonymously on the internet. These five anonymous testimonies would have been deposited on a site created in 2017 “to collect the voices of women “, according to its founder. This one is called Matan Uziel. The 35-year-old man of Israeli nationality introduces himself as a former modeling agent. The events allegedly took place between 1969 and 1976, and some of the alleged victims were said to have been very young: three girls aged 9, 10 and 12, and two young girls aged 15 and 16. But their accusations are only supported by very few details. “Concretely, for now, [Matan Uziel] don’t put evidence on the table“, says journalist Doan Bui.
Moreover, his methods are contested. The founder of this very targeted site, called imetpolanski.com (“I met Polanski.com”), for example offered for a time a reward of 20,000 dollars for any information implicating the filmmaker. Matan Uziel refused to put journalists in touch with these women, and did not respond to our interview requests. Roman Polanski, him, lodged a complaint for defamation against the activist. The filmmaker finally retracted: according to the press, he would fear extradition to the United States if he had to testify in Israeli courts …
Extract from “The accused Polanski”, a document to be reviewed in “Further investigation” on November 11, 2021.
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