Poland has revived its effort to extradite Roman Polanski for a sexual abuse case stemming from 40 years ago.
(Photo: Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images)
In 1978, the filmmaker fled the United States for France before he could be sentenced for a 1977 conviction for having sex with a 13-year-old girl. On Tuesday, the Polish justice minister announced he would appeal a decision to reject an extradition request for Polanski.
Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said Polanski’s celebrity status helped him escape the law.
“I’ve decided to file an appeal in the supreme court against the ruling in which the court decided not to extradite Mr Polanski to the U.S. in a situation when he’s accused of and wanted for a rape of a child,” Ziobro said.
“If he was just a regular guy, a teacher, doctor, plumber, decorator, then I’m sure he’d have been deported from any country to the U.S. a long time ago.” (RELATED: Woody Allen Finally Responds To Sex Assault Allegations — And He Might Have Made It Worse)
In October, a Polish judge said turning Polanski over to the United States would be “obviously unlawful.”