Switzerland, not US, initiated Polanski's detention

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(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-22 08:59

GENEVA: Swiss officials tipped off the United States and set in motion the arrest of director Roman Polanski last month in his decades-old child sex case, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Switzerland's justice ministry spokesman, Folco Galli, said the e-mails - obtained in Los Angeles under a US public records request - showed that Swiss officials followed proper procedure when a wanted individual is expected in Switzerland.

"If we know a wanted individual is coming, we always ask if the arrest warrant is valid," Galli said.

According to the e-mails, the Swiss ministry sent an urgent fax to the US Office of International Affairs on September 22 stating Polanski was traveling to Zurich. The director was to be feted at a film festival, and Swiss officials wanted to know if the US would be submitting a request for his arrest as he was the subject of an international law enforcement "Red Notice".

"The Americans immediately confirmed that was the case," Galli said.

Publicized visit did him in

Galli also addressed the nagging question of why authorities decided to go after Polanski now, even though the 76-year-old filmmaker has been a frequent visitor to Switzerland, where he owns an Alpine chalet. Unlike his previous visits, Polanski's appearance was advertised and that told authorities when and where he would arrive.

It took little sleuthing to figure out Polanski would be in Zurich - the film festival had a website promoting its upcoming tribute to the director of Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown and The Pianist.

After receiving the tip, US federal officials alerted the Los Angeles district attorney's office, which immediately began drafting an arrest warrant. E-mails show US authorities learned on September 23 that Polanski was in Austria but officials doubted they could assemble an arrest warrant before Polanski had moved on to Switzerland.

Polanski was arrested three days later as he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award.

A September 25 e-mail from the Office of International Affairs to the Los Angeles district attorney's office shows US authorities seemed confident that Polanski would not be released. "The default in Switzerland is that a fugitive will be detained until s/he is either extradited or determined by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to be non-extraditable," it read.

On Tuesday, Polanski suffered a setback when a top criminal court rejected his bail plea, citing the "high" risk that the director would try to flee again.

Dieter Jann, an ex-district attorney in Zurich, said the Swiss authorities followed normal procedure. "It's absolutely normal for countries to exchange tips on wanted people and to invite each other to take action. If it wasn't Polanski, everyone would think this is right."

Polanski was indicted among other things of raping a 13-year-old in 1977. He pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawful sexual intercourse but fled amid a legal dispute over the length of his sentence.