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Polanski asks to be sentenced in absentia

Film director Roman Polanski has asked a court in the United States to sentence him in his absence for having sex with a minor in 1977.

Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in September and is under house arrest in a resort in the Swiss Alps pending possible extradition to the US.

His letter was formally presented to the presiding judge in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

“I request that judgment be pronounced against me in my absence,” said the notarised document signed by Polanski.

However, prosecutors said they would oppose any bid to sentence him until he appears in person.

The judge did not make a ruling on Wednesday. A full hearing on the Polanski case is scheduled for January 22.

Polanski, a dual Polish-French national, fled the US in 1978 after pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a minor.

The 76-year-old Oscar winner was arrested when he arrived in Zurich last September to attend the Film Festival.

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