"US asks Poland to extradite Roman Polanski" by Monika Scislowska, Associated Press January 08, 2015
WARSAW — Poland has been asked to extradite filmmaker Roman Polanski to the United States, where he is wanted on 1977 charges of sex with a minor, an official said Wednesday.
Spokesman for the prosecutor general, Mateusz Martyniuk, said the request from Los Angles prosecutors was being forwarded to Krakow, where Polanski’s case is handled.
In October, Krakow prosecutors refused a US request to arrest Polanski, 81, but questioned him and obliged him to turn up on every summons. Polanski was in Warsaw for the opening of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and then traveled to Krakow, his childhood city.
The Oscar-winning director plans to shoot a movie on the Dreyfus affair, the early 20th-century French spy scandal, in Poland in February and March.
Polanski holds Polish and French passports, but his movements are restricted by an Interpol warrant in effect in 188 countries. He travels freely between Switzerland, France, and Poland.
Polanski pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful sexual intercourse, and was sentenced to prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation. He was released after 42 days and, fearing the judge would force him to serve the remainder of the sentence, he fled from the United States.
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Related: Polanski's Pull
You can read the obituary for yourself.
UPDATE:
"Polanski casts extradition fears aside" Associated Press January 16, 2015
WARSAW — Putting aside worries that he might be extradited to the United States, Roman Polanski talked Thursday about his next project to film a story that ‘‘has fascinated me for a long time.’’
The director was questioned Wednesday by a prosecutor in Krakow, in southern Poland, where he has an apartment, in connection to the extradition request the US authorities made this month, citing charges of sex with a minor.
If the extradition happened ‘‘there would be problems’’ with the film, Polanski told reporters. ‘‘I believe that this will not take place.”
The Oscar-winning director is preparing to shoot a film in July in Warsaw about the Dreyfus affair, a 19th-century French spy scandal.
Speaking to reporters in Krakow, Polanski said the ‘‘situations, characters, everything is based on truth, there are no fictitious characters or events.’’
‘‘This story has fascinated me for a long time,’’ he said. ‘‘It divided France and the world over these wrong accusations of treason leveled at an officer who was one of the very few Jewish officers in the French army. There was great anti-Semitism in France at the time and it had to do with this problem.’’
Boguslawa Marcinkowska, spokeswoman for the Krakow prosecutor’s office, said the prosecutor who questioned Polanski was writing a report for the court that will decide whether to extradite him. She refused to divulge any details of the questioning.
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