Polanski to be released on bail Friday for return to his Alpine chalet, Swiss officials say

After a week of speculation, Swiss justice officials announced today that Roman Polanski will be released on bail Friday and return to his chalet in an Alpine resort.

The announcement comes a week after a Swiss court agreed to allow the famed director to leave prison on $4.5-million bail. SInce then, his release has been delayed as Swiss authorities awaited payment of the bond.

That snag appears to have been resolved, and officials said Polanski was to leave prison at 1 p.m. Friday, Zurich time. Arrangements for an electronic security system to monitor Polanski's movements were completed Tuesday, according to Swiss media reports.

The media have converged on the chalet, awaiting Polanski's arrival.

Swiss justice officials were quoted by AFP and Swiss news media as saying Polanski would be allowed to make unlimited phone calls and have full access to the Internet. Although he cannot leave his home, he can invite friends over and throw parties at the tony chalet in the ski resort of Gstaad.

"He will have no prison regime," Justice Ministry spokesman Falco Galli told AFP. "He is completely free to determine his daily schedule. It's also up to him to get in food and other supplies."

Police in Gstaad said they might block traffic and restrict access into Polanski's neighborhood if the media proved disruptive.

A court will eventually rule whether Polanski should be extradited to Los Angeles to face sentencing for having illegal sex with a 13-year-old more than three decades ago. Swiss justice officials repeatedly had denied his bail requests, saying he was a flight risk.

Under the terms of the bail, Polanski, 76, will have his phone calls monitored as well. Gstaad, a village of 2,500 with mountain views, has long been known as a celebrity hangout, having been home to Elizabeth Taylor, Roger Moore and David Niven, among others.

-- Shelby Grad

Photo: A man shovels snow at the entrance to film director Roman Polanski's chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland. Credit: Michel Euler / Associated Press

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A court will eventually rule whether Polanski should be extradited to Los Angeles to face sentencing for having illegal sex with a 13-year-old more than three decades ago. Swiss justice officials repeatedly had denied his bail requests, saying he was a flight risk.

Under the terms of the bail, Polanski, 76, will have his phone calls monitored as well. Gstaad, a village of 2,500 with mountain views, has long been known as a celebrity hangout, having been home to Elizabeth Taylor, Roger Moore and David Niven, among others.

-- Shelby Grad

Photo: A man shovels snow at the entrance to film director Roman Polanski's chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland. Credit: Michel Euler / Associated Press

Comments

[Jeri Dixon]

It is amazing to me how our laws are so protective of the "rights" of convicted felons. This man was convicted of rape - so today it is not a matter of "guilty" or "inocent" - he was already convicted by a jury of his peers. And then he ran. Since then he has been making movies and releasing them in our County, making money hand over fist in our country, all the while refusing to obey the laws of our country. How do we let these things happen? What is wrong with a society that rewards bad behavior? He should be sentenced for the first crime for which he was already convicted, sentenced for the second crime of running from his punishment and put in prison in the United States. He should be fined no less than 20% of all of his earnings that he has made in this country since his original conviction and no less than 1% of that should go to his original victum for her pain and suffering all these years of watching him add to his billions and never suffer for his crime. The rest can go to pay for the healthcare of other rape victums.

[Graham Freeman]

I just discovered a word that succinctly and accurately describes a 45-year-old having sex with a 13-year-old. That word is "rape". In fact, that word is especially applicable when the aforementioned 45-year-old drugs the 13-year-old and ignores her repeated pleas to stop.

[Bill T]

New TV spot:

[zoom in on face. Off camera voice shouts]
Roman Polanski, you're getting out on bail after months in jail! What are you going to do?

"I'm going to EuroDisney (Paris)!"

[Jeb Bush / Lez Cheney 2012]

Free Roman. It is clear this young lady was "looking for it". Roman is the victim. To be fair, she should be forces to re-imburse Roman for the cost of the Champagne and Qualudes she took. She certainly looked older than 13, at least 13 and a 3/4's. Besides the Judge broke the deal that the DA and psycologists made to let him out after 43 days. It's their right to set the sentence, not some stupid Judge... Whoopi is right this was not Rape Rape.

[CommonSense02]

My suggestion to a Swiss citizen would involve the use of a K-31.

[kate]

How sad that the Swiss court is also cavalier with kids safety. This should be called Legal child prostitution/trafficking?

Convicted fugitive child rapist, Polanski, can throw parties
and have kids over for $4.5 million.

LA Cardinal Mahony writes checks for $600 million and walks away from covering-up thousands of child sex crimes.

Two peas in a pod, flipping the world another bird--that you can bank on.

Whose kid is next on the auction block.

[reply]

I hate this guy. He's such a coward.

[puciret]

So... the pedophile will walk .... again. It's good to be the king.

[Jim Q. Citizen]

And the amazing message of the holiday season to children all round the world is,

"If you have enough money you can get away with anything- including drugging, sodomizing and raping a child."

Polanski is a shameless and perverted beast.

[michael hereau]

This rapist needs to go back to LA and face the judge.

[Jeb Bush / Lez Cheney 2012]

Whoopi was right - this was not RAPE RAPE, just unlawful sexual intercourse. It would only have beem RAPE RAPE if he gave drugs and alcohol to a 13 yearold and sodimized her against her will.

[nat turner]

So much for bringing him back to LA . Au revoir , adieu , and happy trails . Victory for child rapists everywhere .

[Jeb Bush / Lez Cheney 2012]

Free Roman. It is clear this young lady was “looking for it”. Roman is the victim. To be fair, she should be forces to re-imburse Roman for the cost of the Champagne and Qualudes she took. She certainly looked older than 13, at least 13 and a 3/4’s. Besides the Judge broke the deal that the DA and psycologists made to let him out after 43 days. It’s their right to set the sentence, not some stupid Judge… Whoopi is right this was not Rape Rape.

[Boraxo]

Apparently the Swiss care more about appeasing a famous director than they do about the risk to their own daughters.

[charles krup]

If you studied the case, you will note that he already served his time.
Also if you study his life, you will see that for 35 years he did no wrongs. Thus he is "reformed" an it cost us tax payers nothing.
The judge in the original case, was going to reverse his decision to look better in the public eye.
Essentially this request to have Polanski extradited is without merit.

Is this country so full of ignorant people? who suck in the yellow press and want to see blood regardless of the facts? Thankfully Polanski escaped these minions.

[Michael Ross]

First off, a memo to the "Reporters" who are bereft of the dimmest understanding of criminal law: the events as described by the victim herself in her Grand Jury testimony in 1977 (available for veiwing on, inter alia, smokinggun.com), clearly set forth the crime, among others, of child rape. Quit using the PC euphemism of "unlawful sex with a minor" (there is no such thing as lawful sex with a minor for an adult perpetrator). Next, give a rest to the two or three films that Little Roman made forty years ago as some sort of apologia for the ill-conceived and preposterously hypocritical support from Little Roman's fellow Hollywood Darlings. Case in point is the colossally ignorant and pathetically stupid remark made on "The View" by Whoopi Goldberg that Little Roman's crime were "rape-rape." In the annals of infamy, her remark reveals the barely hidden common conception that it's the victim's fault in such cases, thereby sweeping away forty years of feminism and victim's rights enlightenment with one appalling sentence. Little Roman is going to split as soon as the gettin' is good, as the Swiss and everyone else well knows. Just one more chink in our criminal "justice" system where the Rich & Famous have one set of rules to live by, and the rest of us suckers have another more onerous one.

[nora henry]

Whatever the guy may have done, the Swiss did not have any business to arrest a French citizen.
Europe is not Texas.

[Marshal]

Actually, they said NOT to monitor his calls.

Besides, he doesn't own 'billions', Jeri, he hardly got his bail money together, and you obviously have no first idea about the case otherwise either. He was convicted of sleeping with a minor, not rape. Rape could not be proven by medical evidence and other statements and that’s why the mother pressed for a plea bargain. He did his time and only fled because the racist judge broke their plea agreement, who then was removed by both attorneys for this illegal misconduct. And he's not a paedophile either, the girl was a teenager and he was never found of paedophiliac tendencies. Paedophiles only like very young kids, whereas Polanski only liked younger women, big difference.

[Dave]

As the father of a 13 daughter, I sincerely hope the next thing I read about this Euro-trash loser is in the obituaries.

[El Guapo de la cuidad de Los Angeles]

Time to hit the slopes!

[joe]

Nice to be rich so you can play games with the legal system on two continents.

[voice of reason]

Jeri Dixon, you are factually incorrect. He was convicted of unlawful sex with a minor, not "rape." He served the time he was sentenced to and the judge decided to change the terms of the plea deal (which is illegal) in order to keep him in custody longer,l despite the fact that those in the facility in which he was detained thought otherwise. It is highly unlikely that anyone else (not famous) would have been allowed to serve their time and the incident (however horrific) would have been over (save for the civil trial). Instead, as a famous person, the original judge in the case wanted to be a 1970's version of Judge Ito (i.e. famous, himself) so Polanski was hounded. Legally, there is very little chance that Polanski will be prosecuted in CA because there have been so many things wrong with how this case was handled (not the least of which is the original judge reneging on the original plea bargain).

Enjoy your revenge fantasies, people, and your resentment at those whom you imagine are being treated differently than you would be (yes, they are, and in many cases, including this one, they are treated worse than an average citizen would be). Your hatred and resentment will do nothing to change the facts of the case. It will do nothing for the victim in this case. It will do nothing for society but pollute it further with hate. Just be honest with yourselves. This isn't about justice. It's about revenge. And you should ask yourselves why you have so much invested in this. As many of your comments make clear, this is not even about the facts of the case, but your own (disturbed) feelings.

[Sheila Condit]

"A court will eventually rule whether Polanski should be extradited to Los Angeles to face sentencing for having illegal sex with a 13-year-old more than three decades ago."

Well, that's an interesting turn of phrase. Sounds a whole lot better than rape.

[ladyofargonne]

4.5 million dollars is nothing to this man and his supporters. I think the Swiss may be hoping he'll run. Then I hope no other country will take him. Oh well probably Poland.

[Joanne]

He will be over the border to France, long before the Swiss make any decision. How do I know? The Swiss let Nazis over the border to kill Jews who were supposed to be safe. How do I know? As a teenager, I knew a man who escaped death, because his mother sent him back to the hotel to change his clothes, so he wasn't killed with all the others. The Swiss police watched as the Germans did their work, burning to death everyone in the synagogue. It was never reported as anything but an "accidental" fire.