Polish court rejects U.S. request to extradite Roman PolanskiOctober 30, 2015 - 19:02 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A Polish court rejected on Friday, October 30 a U.S. request to extradite Roman Polanski for charges stemming from having sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl in the 1970s, Variety reports. The Oscar-winning director did not appear in court for the ruling due to “emotional reasons,” his lawyer Jan Olszewski told the judge. The filmmaker was convicted in 1977 of five charges after admitting to having sex with a minor. He served 42 days in prison after cutting a 90-day plea deal then fled the U.S. ahead of sentencing in 1978. He’s been considered a U.S. fugitive ever since. Polanski has dual citizenship in Poland, where he grew up, and France. French law prohibits extradition of its citizens, but Polish law doesn’t. Swiss authorities also turned down a U.S. extradition warrant and freed him in 2010, after placing Polanski under house arrest for nine months. He was detained there after traveling to the Zurich Film Festival to accept a lifetime achievement award. The verdict is subject to appeal within seven days. Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | Mirzoyan says meeting with Bayramov was “constructive” At the moment, Ararat Mirzoyan said, there is no basis for additional comments. OSCE vows support for Armenia “in all three directions of security” Achieving stable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains a priority of the OSCE, said Ian Borg. 151 detained as civil disobedience campaigns continue in Yerevan Citizens have been blocking streets in the Armenian capital, demanding Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation. France welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan meeting in Almaty France has welcomed the new round of negotiations between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. |