The extradition request was sent to Poland while Polanski was in the country for October’s grand opening of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.
According to Polanski’s legal team, headed up by Alan Dershowitz, US authorities lied to Polish officials to try and extradite the 81-year-old director to the US, where he is to stand trial for rape.
A representative of Los Angeles County District Attorney, Jackie Lacey refused to comment to the Associated Press on the latest efforts to get Polanski in front of a court in California.
In 1977 Roman Polanski was accused of raping a 13-year-old firl. In an out-of-court deal, the director pleaded guilty to one count of statutory rape and spent 42 days at a state prison in Chino, also undergoing psychiatric studies.
However, the judge involved in the case, Laurence J. Rittenband suggested following the sentence that Polanski may return behind bars, prompting Polanski to flee to France.
In 2009 Polanski was arrested by Swiss authorities and placed under house arrest while US extradition request was put up for review, and eventually scrapped.
This year’s extradition request submitted to Poland was reported by the Gazeta Wyborcza daily, which wrote that it was informed of the attempt to extradite the Polish-French film maker by “a high-ranking official” at Poland’s Ministry of Justice.
However, according to the source, the petition was rejected as it was not submitted in the Polish language.
“This was not a request for extradition, but for [Polanski’s] detainment, so that extradition proceedings can be initiated,” the official told the newspaper.
“For the time being, we won't do anything, as the petition did not meet formal requirements, it is not translated into Polish, and that is required by international agreements,” the official told the daily back in October. (jb)
Source: IAR/AP/LA Times