Newsmaker
Polanski free after Swiss reject US extradition
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-07-13 06:13
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GSTAAD, Switzerland - In a stunning ruling, Roman Polanski was declared a free man on Monday -- no longer confined to house arrest in his Alpine villa after Swiss authorities rejected a US request for his extradition because of a 32-year-old sex conviction.
The decision left the Oscar-winning director free to return to France and the life of a celebrity, albeit one unable to visit the United States.
Hours after the ruling was announced, Polanski's assistant said he had left his multi-million dollar chalet with his family. Half-empty glasses seen on a back porch testified to a hasty exit.
Switzerland, which arrested the 76-year-old Polanski last September as he arrived receive a lifetime achievement award at a Zurich film festival, blamed US authorities for its decision, citing a possible "fault in the US extradition request."
The United States failed to provide confidential testimony to refute defense arguments the filmmaker had actually served his sentence before fleeing Los Angeles three decades ago, Widmer-Schlumpf said.
The Swiss decision could end the United States' long pursuit of Polanski, who has been a fugitive since fleeing sentencing for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.
Beyond the legal issue, the extradition request was complicated and diplomatically sensitive because of Polanski's status as a cultural icon in France and Poland, where he holds dual citizenship, and his history as a Holocaust survivor whose first wife Sharon Tate was murdered in 1969 by followers of cult leader Charles Manson in California.
France, where the filmmaker has spent much of his time, does not extradite its own citizens and Polanski has had little trouble traveling throughout Europe -- although he has stayed away from Britain.
The US cannot appeal the decision, but Polanski is still a fugitive in the United States.
"That warrant remains outstanding," Los Angeles Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini said, adding that Polanski could be arrested and sent to the US if he traveled to another country that has an extradition treaty with the United States.
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the Obama administration was disappointed by the Swiss action. "The United States believes that the rape of a 13-year-old child by an adult is a crime, and we continue to pursue justice in this case," Crowley said.
A top Justice Department official said the US extradition request was completely supported by treaty, facts and the law. The department is "deeply disappointed" by the Swiss rejection and will review its options, said Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general in charge of the department's criminal division.
The decision drew cheers and jeers on both sides of the Atlantic.
"The great Franco-Polish director can now freely rediscover his loved ones and devote himself fully to the pursuit of his artistic activities," said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.
His Polish counterpart Radek Sikorski expressed satisfaction with the Swiss decision, saying that "a solution was found that respects the complex legal considerations and personal circumstances of the case of Mr. Polanski."
At Polanski's multi-million dollar Alpine chalet the shutters were open but there was no sign of movement inside hours after the Swiss decision was announced.
A woman who answered the intercom and identified herself only as "Mr. Polanski's assistant" said the director had left with his wife and two young children, Morgane and Elvis. She declined to say where Polanski had gone or whether he would return.
Glasses stood half-empty glasses on the porch, where neighbors say Polanski was having a meal around noon.