Famed director Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland over the weekend after LA prosecutors laid a trap for him there in a 1977 child-sex case .
The LA District Attorney’s Office sent a provisional arrest warrant to the US Justice Department, which presented it to Swiss authorities.
When Polanski stepped off a plane in Zurich Saturday night, he was busted on a warrant accusing him of having sex with a 13-year-old girl more than three decades ago.
The 76-year-old director of “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Chinatown,” a French citizen and resident, now faces extradition to the United States. Because of the intricacies of the Swiss court system, that could take months.
Complicating the matter, France does not extradite its citizens.
“I think this is awful and totally unjust,” fumed French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand. “Just as there is an America which is generous and which we like, so there is an America which is frightening, and that is the America which has just revealed its face.”
Georges Kiejman, Polanski’s lawyer in France, told a radio station there that it was “too early to know” if his client would be extradited. “For now, we are trying to have the arrest warrant lifted in Zurich,” he said.
Poland’s foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, told the Polish news agency that he will join France in asking United States and Switzerland for Polanski’s release, and also plans to ask Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to offer the director clemency. Polanski grew up in Poland.
On six prior occasions, LA prosecutors got reports that Polanski had planned to travel to countries with US extradition treaties, and prepared the paperwork for his arrest.
“But in the end, he found out about it and didn’t go,” said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the LA district attorney.
Polanski came to Switzerland to accept an award at the Zurich Film Festival.
“There was a valid arrest request and we knew when he was coming. That’s why he was taken into custody,” said Swiss Justice Ministry spokesman Guido Balmer.
LA County DA Steve Cooley said, “Some form of justice will finally be done,” adding, “He received a very, very, very lenient sentence back then.”
In 1977, the young girl now known as Samantha Geimer accused Polanski, then 43, of having sex with her in the home of actor Jack Nicholson.
The initial charge of rape was reduced to unlawful sexual intercourse with an underage girl.
Polanski spent 42 days in jail and pleaded guilty to the charge after defense lawyers and prosecutors agreed he would spend no more time in jail.
But Polanski fled the country in 1978 after he learned that the trial judge, Laurence Rittenband, didn’t plan to honor the deal.
Geimer, who lives in Hawaii, has publicly called for Polanski to receive no more jail time. With Post Wire Services