A district court in Kraków, southern Poland, had ruled in October 2015 that Polański should not be deported from Poland over an extradition request filed by the United States concerning a 1977 case of unlawful sex with a minor.
The motion to overturn this decision was submitted in May by Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro.
Ziobro, who is also Poland’s Chief Public Prosecutor, said at the time that Polański “is accused of and wanted in connection with a brutal crime against a child, the rape of a child.”
“Zbigniew Ziobro, Justice Minister and Chief Public Prosecutor, takes the position that proceedings concerning sexual abuse of minors should be enforced regardless of who committed the crime and when,” read a statement issued by the prosecutior’s office following Tuesday’s decision.
“At the same time, we accept and respect the ruling of the Supreme Court to reject a final appeal for refusing the US extradition of Roman Polański, who has been accused of a series of sexual crimes against a 13-year-old child.”
Polański fled the US in February 1978, shortly before being sentenced for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. He settled in Paris, where he has been chiefly based ever since.
He was arrested in 2009, while entering Switzerland to receive a prize at the Zurich Film Festival, as a US request for his extradition had been freshly submitted. However, the Swiss authorities ultimately backed down after keeping Polański under house arrest for several months.
The director returned to France but he has frequently visited Poland, where he grew up in a secular Jewish family in the city of Kraków. (rg)
“Zbigniew Ziobro, Justice Minister and Chief Public Prosecutor, takes the position that proceedings concerning sexual abuse of minors should be enforced consistently regardless of who committed the crime and when,” read a statement issued by the prosecutior’s office following Tuesday’s decision.
“At the same time, we accept and respect the ruling of the Supreme Court to reject a final appeal for refusing the US extradition of Roman Polański, who has been accused of a series of sexual crimes against a 13-year-old child.”