Herve Temime, the lawyer of renowned director Roman Polanski, said that his client is feeling depressed in jail following his arrest to face extradition to the US for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977. The director, who is holding dual French and Polish citizenship, was arrested on 26 September at the request of the US when he flew into Switzerland for a film festival.
“I found him to be tired and depressed,” the lawyer told the Sonntag newspaper after visiting the director in a Zurich prison.
Temime was also quoted by another newspaper, NZZ am Sonntag, saying, “Roman Polanski, who is 76, seemed very dejected when I visited him.
“Polanski was in an unsettled state of mind,” he added.
Polanski, after pleading guilty for raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977, spent 42 days in gaol and underwent psychiatric treatment during his stint behind bars. The Oscar-winning director, who believed that a judge would sentence him to 50 years in prison, fled the US before the case concluded, due to a failed plea agreement.
Image: Karlovy Vary
Polanski’s recent appeal for release was rejected by Swiss officials due to the high risk of the director leaving the country. The Swiss court dealing with his extradition case was also urged by the authorities to refuse bail and reject the appeal of Polanski’s lawyers to release the director.
The lawyer told Sonntag that the Swiss Federal Penal Court should come up with a decision soon on his appeal for release.
“He would fulfil all the conditions and stay in Switzerland until the extradition proceeding is decided,” he said.
