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Polanski Breaks Silence on His Extradition From Switzerland



Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters
Roman Polanski in 2009.

By MICHAEL CIEPLY
Published: May 03, 2010

LOS ANGELES - Ending a long silence, Roman Polanski addressed his possible extradition to the United States over a 33-year-old sex-crime case with a statement that accused authorities here of "trying to serve me on a platter to the media of the world," instead of honoring what he described as an agreement, made decades ago, to limit his punishment to time already served.

"I have decided to break my silence in order to address myself directly to you without any intermediaries and in my own words," Mr. Polanski said in the statement, which was distributed to the news media on Sunday.

The 908-word statement was circulated by Bernard-Henri Lévy, who is a friend of Mr. Polanski's and the director of the French magazine La Règle du Jeu. Mr. Polanski, the Oscar-winning director whose films include "The Pianist" and "Chinatown," was arrested in Switzerland on Sept. 26. He has since been held pending possible extradition for sentencing in the case that stemmed from his arrest in 1977 after having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Charged with various offenses, including rape, Mr. Polanski pleaded guilty to having unlawful sex with a minor. He spent 42 days in a California state prison during a psychiatric evaluation, but fled the country before final sentencing by Judge Laurence J. Rittenband.

Mr. Polanski's lawyers have argued in court that Judge Rittenband, who died in 1993, committed improprieties in the case and had promised that the psychiatric evaluation would be Mr. Polanski's entire sentence.

Prosecutors and a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge have insisted that Mr. Polanski cannot pursue his claims until he returns to the United States. But Mr. Polanski's lawyers have argued that an extradition request sent to Swiss authorities concealed facts that would show that he does not qualify for extradition.
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