Roman Polanski 'very happy' with Polish court's rejection of extradition

Filmmaker Roman Polanski, who will not be sent to the United States, says he's "very happy that this case is coming to a close. I can breathe now with relief."

A court in Poland ruled Friday that the law forbids extraditing Polanski to the U.S., where he pleaded guilty nearly four decades ago to having sex with a minor.

At a press conference Friday in Krakow, the 83-year-old Polanski told reporters "I pleaded guilty. I went to prison. I have done my penalty. The case is closed."

He says the case "has cost me a lot of effort, a lot of trouble, a lot of health. And it cost my family even more."

Very complicated case: Polish judge

Judge Dariusz Mazur said the case is very complicated but an extradition procedure would violate the human rights of the 83-year-old Polanski because he could be subjected to confinement.

"I find no rational answer to the question: what is the real point of the U.S. extradition request?" said Mazur, who spent more than two hours explaining his reasoning to the court in Krakow.

The decision could close the case in Polanski's favour. The Polish prosecutor who argued the case for extradition on behalf of the United States did not immediately say whether there would be an appeal.

Mazur insisted that Polanski served his punishment in confinement in the U.S., and later for 10 months — partly under house arrest — in Switzerland in 2009-2010 when the U.S. unsuccessfully sought his extradition there.

Mazur said U.S. judges and prosecutors in the case violated legal procedures, broke the plea bargain in 1977, denied Polanski the right to proper defence and appeared biased.

The Oscar-winning Polanski was in Krakow on Friday but did not appear in court.

Polanski's attorneys said Friday that the U.S. request was legally flawed and said the filmmaker already served prison time under a plea-bargain deal with a Los Angeles judge.

"This is not about justice or the interest of the victim," attorney Jan Olszewski said.

Served time in California prison

Polanski was initially charged on six felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, but was allowed to plead guilty in 1977 to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse for having sex with a 13-year-old girl during a photo shoot in Los Angeles.

In exchange, the judge agreed to drop the other charges and sentence him to prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation. Polanski was released after 42 days by an evaluator who deemed him mentally sound and unlikely to offend again.

The California judge then said he was going to send Polanski back to prison for the remainder of the 90 days and that afterward he would ask Polanski to agree to a "voluntary deportation." Polanski fled from the United States on Feb. 1, 1978, the day he was scheduled to be sentenced to the additional time.

Mazur said Polanski had reason to believe then he would be put in prison for a longer time.

The Polish court's verdict is subject to appeal after it is published in mid-November.

The attorney for the woman who was sexually assaulted by Polanski praised the Polish court's decision. Lawyer Lawrence Silver, who represents Samantha Geimer, says he has already sent a note congratulating Polanski's lawyers in Poland and also called for Los Angeles prosecutors to end any efforts to extradite the director.

Geimer, who long ago identified herself as Polanski's victim, has said she forgives the director. 

Polanski is a celebrity in Poland, and public opinion in his childhood country has been mostly in his favour. He won an Academy Award for best director for his 2002 film The Pianist and was nominated for 1974's Chinatown and 1979's Tess.

Polanski's movements are restricted by an Interpol warrant in effect in 188 countries, but he is avoiding extradition by remaining only in France, Poland and Switzerland.