Roman Polanski’s legal team have asked a judge to open a sealed dossier, hoping it will help their fight against the director’s extradition to the United States.
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Swiss authorities on Friday, however, said the dossier is irrelevant to their decision on whether to send Polanski back.
According to Polanski’s lawyers, the dossier contains transcripts of testimony by retired US Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson that would prove the extradition request is based on false and incomplete statements by the Los Angeles district attorney’s office.
Swiss Justice Office spokesman Folco Galli said that does not matter because the justice ministry must work on the assumption that the extradition request is based on correct statements.
The French-Polish filmmaker is currently under house arrest at his chalet in the resort town of Gstaad. He was taken into custody on September 26, 2009, in Zurich while on his way to a film festival there.
The 76-year-old Oscar winner and director of movies like “Chinatown” and “Rosemary’s Baby” is wanted in Los Angeles for sentencing in a child-sex case that began in 1977.
Last week, a California judge denied a request to sentence Polanski in absentia, clearing the way for him to be returned to the US. Swiss officials have been waiting for the California proceedings to end before moving the case forward themselves.
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Polanski extradition on hold
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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…
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The decision paves the way for his extradition but Swiss justice officials are waiting for further information from the US before deciding whether to carry out the extradition order. Polanski is wanted in California for sentencing, having fled the country for France three decades ago. The 76-year-old was picked up by Swiss authorities on an…
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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.