Polanski transferred from jail for 'security reasons'

Police have moved film-maker Roman Polanski from jail to an undisclosed location for "security reasons", Swiss officials say. Polanski, who is fighting extradition to the US, is due to be placed under house arrest on Friday.

AFP - Film-maker Roman Polanski was transferred on Thursday from jail in northeastern Switzerland to an undisclosed location ahead of house arrest at his chalet in the Swiss ski resort of Gstaad.
   
The transfer was made for "security reasons and protection of the person," Swiss justice ministry spokesman Folco Galli told AFP.
   
The justice ministry had announced that Polanski, who is fighting extradition to the United States on a child sex conviction, would be released on bail and arrive on Friday at his chalet in the western Swiss Alpine village.
   
The surprise transfer on Thursday was done to ensure that Polanski's departure for his chalet could be done in a discreet manner, explained Galli.
   
Journalists, photographers and television satellite trucks have been staking out both the jail in Winterthur in recent weeks, and his Gstaad property, to witness his departure and arrival.
   
Bern cantonal police had said they were taking "no specific measure" for the arrival of Polanski, shrugging off the intense media interest since his arrest on September 26 in Zurich, where he was due to receive a lifetime achievement award from a film festival.
   
Polanski has been hunted by the United States ever since he fled the country in 1978 after admitting unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.
   
The 76-year-old's earlier applications for bail were turned down by both the Swiss criminal court and justice ministry.
   
However, they last week accepted his renewed offer of a 4.5 million Swiss francs (3 million euros, 4.5 million dollars) bail bond, the handover of his identity documents, a

s well as his house arrest under electronic monitoring were "sufficient to avert the risk of flight."
   
The decision to grant bail prompted a quick reaction from Interpol, which called on governments to be vigilant in case the 76-year-old Polanski goes on the run again.
   
After all, the 1,800 square metre (19,400 square foot) chalet named "Milky Way" is just 67 kilometres (42 miles) away from the closest French border post.
   
Sources said Polanski's wife Emmanuelle Seigner and their two children Morgane and Elvis are expected to be at the chalet to welcome him.
   
One of his French lawyers, Georges Kiejman told AFP that he would be visiting his client at the chalet in the coming days.
   
Apart from appealing for bail, Polanski's French-led team of defence lawyers have also contested his extradition in Switzerland. Swiss authorities said the formal request for extradition lodged by the United States is still being examined.
   
Meanwhile, Polanski's US legal team were due to ask a California appeals court on December 10 to dismiss the child sex conviction, legal sources said last month.
   
Lawyers for the victim in the child sex case, Samantha Geir, filed a court motion in October in Los Angeles renewing calls for the original case against the director to be dismissed because of the anguish the renewed attention was causing her.

 

Date created : 2009-12-03