Poland rejects U.S. extradition request for Roman Polanski

PanARMENIAN.Net - A Polish court has rejected a U.S. extradition request for the film director Roman Polanski over his child sex conviction, the Guardian reports.

“[Polanski’s] extradition is inadmissible,” said Judge Dariusz Mazur at the district court in the southern city of Krakow. The decision is not legally binding, as prosecutors can appeal.

The Oscar-winning director pleaded guilty in 1977 to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl during a photo shoot in Los Angeles fuelled by champagne and drugs.

He served 42 days in jail as part of a 90-day plea bargain, but fled the country for France the following year, believing that the judge hearing his case could overrule the deal and impose a longer prison sentence.

Polanski has been in Poland to shoot a new drama about the Dreyfus affair, based on a novel by Robert Harris. The 82-year-old was born in France but grew up in Poland and holds dual nationality.

While French law forbids extradition of its citizens, Polish law does not. Polanski’s lawyers had been trying to strike a deal giving him immunity from legal action while he shot in Krakow.

Mazur said the case was very complicated, but an extradition procedure would violate Polanski’s human rights because he could be subjected to confinement.

The director’s lawyer Jan Olszewski argued on Friday, October 30 that the U.S. request had legal flaws. “This is not about justice or the interest of the victim,” Olszewski said.