Roman Polanski extradition drive revived by Poland's justice minister
Poland's justice minister is reviving an effort to have filmmaker Roman Polanski extradited to the US, where he is wanted in a nearly 40-year-old case.
Zbigniew Ziobro's office said he asked Poland's Supreme Court to annul a ruling in October by a court in Krakow that Polish law forbids Polanski's extradition.
Mr Ziobro, who took office late last year as part of a new conservative government, argues that celebrity status is shielding Polanski in Poland.
Polanski, who has Polish and French citizenship, lives in Paris but often visits Poland.
The director pleaded guilty in 1977 to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl during a photo shoot in Los Angeles. In a deal with the judge, he served 42 days in prison, but then fled the US.
The US has been seeking to bring Polanski back and put him before a court.
The Krakow court's decision was at odds with a Polish-US extradition agreement, Mr Ziobro's office argued in a statement. It said that, "according to the extradition agreement, the defendant should be handed over to the United States".
Last year, the Krakow judge ruling on the case found that Polanski served his punishment in confinement in the US, and later for 10 months - partly under house arrest - in Switzerland in 2009-2010 when the US unsuccessfully sought his extradition there.
He argued that US judges and prosecutors in the case violated legal procedures, broke the plea bargain in 1977, denied Polanski the right to proper defence and appeared biased.
Polanski, 83, is popular in Poland and was planning to make a film there. He grew up and studied filmmaking in the country.
His movements are restricted by an Interpol warrant in effect in 188 countries, but he has avoided extradition by travelling only between France, Poland and Switzerland, which in 2011 rejected a US request to extradite Polanski.
Mr Ziobro's move could now make Poland a risky destination for him.
Polanski won an Academy Award for best director for his 2002 film The Pianist, which he filmed in Warsaw and was nominated for his 1970s movies Chinatown and Tess.
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Jan Olszewski, Polanski's lawyer in Krakow, said he had contacted the director about Mr Ziobro's decision, which they had been expecting.
He said: "The court's verdict stands and Mr Polanski is a free man. But I cannot exclude that this situation will affect his decisions as to visiting Poland."
