Swiss Deny Request For Polanski’s Extradition
Posted July 12, 2010 10:34 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Swiss government has denied a U.S. request for Roman Polanski’s extradition.
The director, who was convicted in 1977 of having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, is now a free man.
The assault took place in Los Angeles. Polanski fled the country afterward and has never been sentenced.
“I would like to say that it was not about judging the crime. That was not our task. It was also not for us to decide over guilt or innocence,” Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told a news conference.
Instead, there may have been an error in the extradition application. Widmer-Schlumpf said that the American government rejected a request from the Swiss for hearings in the 1977 case.
Polanski, 76, is a French-Polish citizen. He was arrested in Zurich last year when he came to a film festival to accept an award. Following Monday’s decision, he no longer has to wear an electronic monitoring anklet.
