Roman Polanski’s extradition case closed

Polish prosecutors will not challenge a court order denying extradition for Roman Polanski, putting an end to a 40-year-legal battle to bring the filmmaker back to USA soil.

The appellate prosecutor’s office in the city of Krakow said in a statement on Friday that its analysis of the evidence collected in the case showed the earlier court decision on denying extradition had been correct.

Polanski pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with a 13-year-old girl during a photo shoot in Los Angeles.

The crime victim, Samantha Geimer, has said she would prefer it if the United States case against Polanski were dropped.

A lawyer for Polanski expressed “great relief”.

It appears Polanski can now pursue plans to begin filming a new drama about France’s Dreyfus Affair on location in Poland without fear of arrest or detention.

The United States had requested Polanski’s extradition from Poland after he made a high-profile appearance in Warsaw in 2014.

His Polish lawyers had argued against his extradition, citing claimed legal flaws in the USA process and the 42 days Polanski served in prison at the time, according to the Associated Press news agency.

The judge presiding over the extradition hearing in Krakow was fiercely critical of the original United States investigation into the case, saying the U.S. judges and prosecutors had flouted “the rules of a fair trial”.

In February, Polanski testified for a marathon nine hours at the first closed-door extradition hearing.

The filmmaker holds both Polish and French citizenship.

Polanski, who admitted unlawful sex with a minor – statutory rape – fled the U.S. ahead of sentencing in 1978.