Truemors
is reporting from
Member
NP Rank:
NP Rank:
US authorities demand extradition of Polanski
Share:
by Susan Marie Kovalinsky | October 23, 2009 at 03:04 am
109 views | 12 Recommendations | 4 comments
US authorities are demanding the extradition of Roman Polanski to face trial for charges filed against him in 1978. If local authorities agree, he will be ordered back to the U.S., but his attorneys say Polanski will appeal the extradition to the Swiss criminal court or to the US Supreme court.
PARIS — American authorities formally demanded the extradition ofRoman Polanski late Thursday, setting in motion the next legal struggle for the Oscar-winning film director over his flight in 1978 from sentencing for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.The American Embassy in Bern submitted the request on Thursday to the Federal Office of Justice in Switzerland, where Mr. Polanski has been imprisoned since his arrest on September 26 at Zurich airport. With that paperwork filed, Swiss authorities will now forward the demand to the Canton of Zurich to hold a hearing on the issue, according to a statement from the Swiss federal office.
If the local authorities order extradition, Mr. Polanski , who holds French and Polish citizenship, can still appeal the decision to the Swiss Federal Criminal Court and the Federal Supreme Court.
Both of Mr. Polanski’s French lawyers, Georges Kiejman and Hervé Temime, had expected the extradition request to be filed before November. They say that Mr. Polanski could end up sitting in the Swiss jail for six months or more while the appeals process runs its course.
With the specter of a lengthy extradition fight, Mr. Kiejman said on Wednesday that all options are open, including the possibility that Mr. Polanski would agree to return, although both he and Mr. Temime say the director plans to fight the extradition demand.
Advertisement
NowPublic on Facebook
What is NowPublic?
NowPublic lets people work together to cover news events around the world.
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 03:12 on October 23rd, 2009
He has already been convicted. So when this article says facing charges are we referring to sentencing or additional charges for flight?
at 03:24 on October 23rd, 2009
I would assume having been a fugitive from justice all these years, are the additional charges. smk thanks for recommending ;)
at 05:56 on October 23rd, 2009
The wording in the article: "US authorities are demanding..." leaves me wondering who are these so-called "authorities"? Who or which institutions are demanding extradition? With so much going on you wonder how they (whoever that maybe) have time for this sideshow. I am sure Polanski has paid dearly for his sins over the past years. Hounding him is really a show for the media. Or maybe they (!) made it all up!?Girardox
at 09:13 on October 23rd, 2009
The request was a formal request for extradition from the American Embassy. Polanski confessed to the charges brought against him in 1978. He then fled the country. There is no statute of limitations on the crime of drugging and molesting children.