Polanski Loses First Bid for Release

The complicated story of Roman Polanski and his flight from the US over 30 years ago is starting to get very, very simple – at least when it comes to the law. The NYT reports that Polanski (and his legal representatives) have lost the appeal to have the director released from a Zurich jail following his arrest for a 2005 international warrant. The appeal was rejected by the Swiss Justice Ministry and a spokesperson for the ministry was quoted as saying the reason they rejected the request was that they felt "there is a high risk of flight" -- and it's not like you can blame them, the man does have a habit of disappearing when in the middle of a sticky situation.

That hasn't stopped his legal representatives from asking Switzerland's highest criminal court to free Polanski, but representatives from the Justice Ministry even submitted letters explaining their opposition to freeing the director. However, there is still a chance the director could be freed, and according to the NYT, "The Federal Criminal Court has said it will rule in the case in the "next weeks," and a verdict in either direction can be appealed to the country's highest judicial body, the Federal Tribunal."


Unfortunately (for Polanski) the 'smart money' seems to be on the likelihood that the 75-year-old director will continue to wait in a Zurich jail until he is extradited to the U.S., a process that could take months. Former Justice Minister Christoph Blocher was quoted as saying, "the case against Polanski now was quite simple and that he "must be extradited." -- which is a far cry from the earlier popular opinion. The likelihood of Polanski being able to walk away from this arrest is getting slimmer by the day, and this is only the beginning -- just imagine what will happen once those 'wheels of justice' really start turning.