The Polish government has filed an appeal of a court decision denying its request to extradite Roman Polanski to the U.S. for his 1977 conviction for having sex with a 13-year-old girl, Polish media reports. In October, a judge in Poland declined to extradite Polanski, saying the 82-year-old filmmaker’s human rights would be at risk in the American penal system. The judge also implied that Polanski, who spent 42 days in jail before fleeing the U.S. and was placed under house arrest in Switzerland during a previous extradition scandal, had already served his time for the crime. In a statement explaining the appeal, Polish justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro said the judge had ruled in a “biased and selective way.â€
The director is currently preparing to shoot a film in Poland based on the Dreyfus Affair. His potential extradition became a key campaign issue in last fall’s Polish elections, with the leader of the winning Law and Justice party saying that the director’s wealth and fame should not entitle him to special treatment. That sentiment was repeated on Tuesday by Ziobrio, who called Polanski’s extradition “a litmus test for many Poles.â€