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Swiss 'tipped off US' on Polanski Swiss admit US Polanski tip-off
(about 9 hours later)
Newly released documents have shed light on how fugitive film director Roman Polanski came to be arrested during a trip to Zurich last month. Authorities in Switzerland have claimed they acted correctly in informing their US counterparts that director Roman Polanski was travelling to Zurich.
The AP news agency said e-mails show that the Swiss authorities tipped off their US counterparts that Polanski, 76, was preparing to travel to Zurich. It was this tip-off, revealed in e-mails obtained by AP, that set in motion the 76-year-old's arrest last month on decades-old sex charges.
The filmmaker was held as he travelled from France to collect an award. Justice Ministry spokesman Folco Galli told AP that US officials were asked if an alert issued in 2005 remained valid.
He has been wanted in the US since pleading guilty to unlawful sex with an underage girl and then fleeing in 1978. After receiving confirmation, he said that Switzerland was obliged to act.
The US authorities have so far declined to say how they learned of Polanski's trip to Zurich. Polanski was taken into custody in Zurich after he travelled from France to collect an award at the city's film festival.
But the e-mails revealed by AP, following a public records request, show that the information came from the Swiss Federal Office of Justice. He has been wanted in the US since pleading guilty to unlawful sex with an under-age girl and then fleeing in 1978.
After receiving the tip-off, US federal officials alerted prosecutors in Los Angeles, who drafted an arrest warrant, according to AP. Records request
Correspondents say is not clear why Switzerland chose to pursue Polanski now, when the director has been a frequent visitor to that country. Galli's comments follow the emergence of the e-mails - revealed by AP following a public records request - which shed light on how the US came to be aware of the fugitive director's movements.
He has lost an appeal to be released on bail and is currently being held in a Swiss jail ahead of his possible extradition to the United States. CASE TIMELINE 1977 - Polanski admits unlawful sex with Samantha Geimer, 13, in Los Angeles1978 - He flees to Britain after US arrest warrant is issued. He immediately moves to France, where he holds citizenship. He settles there - protected by France's limited extradition with US2008 - Polanski's lawyer demands case be dismissed and hearing moved out of LA court2009 - Polanski's request to have hearing outside LA is denied. Swiss authorities detain Polanski after he travels to Zurich class="" href="/2/hi/entertainment/2712371.stm">Profile: Roman Polanski
After receiving the tip-off, US federal officials alerted prosecutors in Los Angeles who drafted an arrest warrant.
The US authorities had declined to say how they learned of Polanski's trip to Zurich.
He had been a frequent visitor to Switzerland prior to his arrest and owns property in the country.
Earlier this week, he lost an appeal to be released on bail from the Swiss jail where he is being held ahead of his possible extradition to the US.
Switzerland's highest criminal court backed an earlier government ruling that there was a high risk of him fleeing the country if he was released.
The Paris-born Polish filmmaker has not set foot in the US for more than 30 years.