The United States has made an official request to Switzerland for famed director Roman Polanski to be extradited. Polanski has been under arrest since late September.
Roman Polanski, Academy Award-winning director, was arrested on Sept. 26th as he traveled to attend the Zurich Film Festival to accept an award for lifetime achievement. He has been, the U.S. says, an international fugitive since the late 1970s. The request for extradition had been expected.
In 1978, Roman Polanski was was charged with drugging and then having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, Samantha Geimer, at the home of Jack Nicholson. At the time, Polanski said the girl was both experienced and consensual. While the charges were later dropped as part of a plea bargain, with the director admitting to a lesser charge of unlawful sex with a minor, it became apparent that the judge in the case was going to renege on the deal, so Polanski fled the U.S.
Transcripts in the case seem to show a different picture from that Polanski painted, however. They seem to show Geimer as a scared young teen, victimized by an older man.
Geimer has requested that charges against Polanski be dropped several times since the incident. It should be noted, however, that Geimer and Roman Polanski came to a financial settlement in the 1990s.
Some Hollywood celebrities and moguls have publicly decried the arrest, while others have said Polanski is no different than any other person. The brutal slaying of his wife Sharon Tate and their unborn child at the hands of the Manson clan, as well as his family's experience in the Holocaust, have also been brought up as extenuating circumstances.
In a statement, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice said "The US Embassy in Bern submitted the formal extradition request to the Federal Office of Justice on 22 October 2009, within the deadline of 40 days stipulated under the bilateral extradition treaty."
At this point, the request will now be forwarded to the canton of Zurich. A local court will then hold a hearing and, "based on the results of the hearing and the information provided by Polanski's lawyer," a decision will be made on the extradition request.
It is expected that the extradition request will be granted. However, Polanski can appeal against the justice office's decision before the country's top criminal court. If that fails, he will also have a further appeal available to the federal supreme court.
Polanski's lawyer has previously said they will fight extradition. It is possible these proceeding could take years.
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