Filmmaker Roman Polanski will not be extradited to the United States until courts in Los Angeles have decided whether he must attend his trial in person.
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The Swiss justice office said on Friday that it would be pointless to extradite Polanski while he is still trying to get his case heard in absentia.
The Franco-Polish director fled the US in 1978 after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. He was picked up by Swiss authorities in September at Zurich airport.
He then spent two months in a Swiss prison but after posting a large sum in bail he was transferred to house arrest in his chalet in the Swiss resort of Gstaad in December.
His latest film, The Ghost Writer, was premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday.
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Polanski case takes nod toward no jail time
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On Monday an appeal court rejected his bid to have a three-decades-old child-sex case tossed out of court but suggested legal options that could lead to his freedom. Although the California 2nd District Court of Appeals rejected a request from both Polanski and his victim, Samantha Geimer, to have the 32-year-old case dismissed outright, it…
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But Polanski will remain in jail in Zurich until the Federal Justice Office decides whether to file an appeal. It has ten days to do so. On Wednesday evening Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told Swiss television she saw no reason to appeal against the court’s decision. In a statement, the court said it accepted Polanski’s…
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Well after he became a fugitive, the French-Polish filmmaker would come to the upmarket resort town to ski and live what locals say was largely a normal life. He hit the slopes with friends Jack Nicholson and Gunter Sachs. He mingled with townsfolk and eventually bought a modest chalet there. “He was always a very…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.