Polanski arrest to spark extradition fight
US: Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski, whose tumultuous life has
overshadowed his film work, was arrested this weekend in Zurich setting
up a U.S. extradition on a 1978 arrest warrant stemming from the rape of
a 13-year-old girl.
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Fact box |
* Polanski
arrested for US warrant for 1970s rape case
* “Chinatown” director pleaded guilty, but fled the U.S.
* Extradition battle awaits authorities in Switzerland
* New questions surfaced in 2008 over judicial conduct
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Polanski, 76, was taken into custody after arriving in Switzerland
where he was to receive a prize at the Zurich Film Festival on Sunday.
He now faces a battle over extradition in that country, and perhaps even
a new Los Angeles trial in the 30-year-old case in which he has already
pleaded guilty.
The director fled the United States on the eve of his 1978 sentencing
because he believed a judge might overrule his plea and put him in jail
for 50 years. But a 2008 film documentary has prompted new questions of
judicial misconduct, and his lawyers have tried unsuccessfully to get
his case dismissed.
Los Angeles attorneys Bart Dalton, Dough Dalton and Chad Hummell said
they were unaware of any extradition and different lawyers would handle
that case. Polanski is a French citizen and for years has avoided
countries that have U.S. extradition treaties. He has never returned to
Los Angeles, where in 1969 his pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, was
murdered by Charles Manson’s cult.
French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand was “stunned” to hear
about the arrest, his office said, adding President Nicolas Sarkozy was
following the case and hoped the matter could be resolved, allowing
Polanski to return to his family.
Zurich/los Angeles, Monday, Reuters |
