Swiss court orders Polanski kept in jail

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-20 19:16

Polish director Roman Polanski attends a news conference for the film "Chacun son Cinema" at the 60th Cannes Film Festival May 20, 2007. [Agencies]

ZURICH - A Swiss court rejected on Tuesday an appeal by film director Roman Polanski against detention pending extradition to the United States for having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

"According to Swiss law, detention is the rule during the entire extradition proceedings," the Swiss Federal Criminal Court said in a statement. "The court considered the risk that Roman Polanski might flee if released from custody as high."

The 76-year-old Oscar-winning director, who holds dual French and Polish citizenship, was arrested at the request of the United States when he flew into Switzerland on September 26 to receive a lifetime achievement prize at a film festival.

French lawyer Herve Temime has said Polanski was depressed and tired and told Reuters on Saturday his client had been moved from jail for medical treatment.

The court said the bail offered by Polanski did not meet the requirements of Swiss law, so it could not decide whether measures such as bail and house arrest with electronic monitoring would prevent him from fleeing.

It said Polanksi could appeal again, proposing a form of bail and its amount, to the Swiss justice ministry, which rejected a separate bid for release earlier this month due to fears the director would flee.

Polanski, who won the 'best director' Oscar for the 2002 Holocaust film "The Pianist," pleaded guilty to having sex with a minor in 1977 and spent 42 days in prison undergoing psychiatric tests.

But he fled the United States before the case was concluded because he believed a judge would sentence him to up to 50 years behind bars despite a plea agreement for time already served.

The Swiss court said it did not consider that Polanski's extradition was "evidently inadmissable" although it would only fully examine that in the real extradition proceedings.

U.S. authorities have until the end of November to make a firm extradition request. U.S. judicial sources have said the complex extradition process could take years if Polanski challenges it.