Swiss authorities said Wednesday they would announce a decision in January on whether to extradite Roman Polanski to the United States over a 30-year-old child sex case.
The 76-year-old Oscar winning film director has been living under house arrest at his chalet in the Swiss Alpine resort of Gstaad after being released on bail on December 4.
A decision on the extradition of Roman Polanski will be rendered at the beginning of next year, Folco Galli, a spokesman for the Federal Justice Ministry, told AFP.
The French-Polish film director, who was arrested when he flew into Switzerland on September 26, has been hunted by the United States ever since he fled in 1978 after admitting having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.
The United States lodged its extradition request in October, weeks after was detained at Zurich airport on a US warrant while he arrived to pick up a lifetime achievement award at a local film festival.
The US extradition request is very detailed, as well as the remarks of the (defense) lawyers, and it takes a long time to examine, Galli explained.
Polanski has the right to appeal any decision, and his French-led defense team has said that Polanski will oppose extradition.
Last week, Polanski s US defense team urged a California appeals court to dismiss the 1977 child sex conviction, citing alleged misconduct by the trial judge at the time of the case.
The victim in the case, Samantha Geimer, has also urged the case to be dismissed, saying the renewed attention was causing her anguish.
Geimer s lawyer, Lawrence Silver, argued in Los Angeles that the case should be ended. Thirty-two years is enough, he said, adding she had been harmed by unfair and improper judicial proceedings.
However, prosecutors told the court, which is scheduled to make a ruling within 90 days, that the director of Rosemary s Baby, Chinatown and other classics must appear in court himself to argue to have the case dropped.
Do we want to send a message not only to this defendant but to other defendants that fleeing is an option? said Deputy District Attorney Phyllis Asayama.
After weeks in Swiss jail cells, Polanski was granted bail of 4.5 million Swiss francs (4.5 million dollars), surrendered his passport and was fitted with an electronic bracelet to stop him fleeing.
Polanski is not allowed out of the grounds of the 1,800 square meter (19,400 square foot) snowbound property in Gstaad, where he was joined by his family.
He has reportedly been editing his latest film, The Ghost Writer during detention in order to finish it in time for its world premiere during the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany next February.
Based on the novel The Ghost by British writer Robert Harris, the film stars Ewan McGregor as a writer employed to pen the autobiography of a former British prime minister modeled on Tony Blair, who then uncovers dark secrets.
The Berlinale organizers said on Tuesday that Polanski s new movie would be among seven films in competition at the festival on February 11 to 21.
Polanski won his first major awards there, receiving the Golden Bear in 1966 for Cul de Sac after a special jury s prize for the controversial Repulsion a year earlier.
