WARSAW (Sputnik) – A Polish court rejected a US request on Friday to extradite Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski.
In January, the Prosecutor's Office in Krakow sent a request to a regional court for the film director's extradition to the United States over a 1977 child sex crime conviction.
The filmmaker was arrested for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in 1977. Though reaching a plea deal with the prosecution, Polanski fled the United States shortly before sentencing.
Polanski, then in his 40s, has lived in France ever since.
In 2009, he was detained in Zurich during a film festival on a US warrant and placed under house arrest. The following year, Polanski was freed after Swiss authorities chose not to extradite him to the United States.
The current court decision is not legally binding, as prosecutors can appeal.
