By Jason Rhodes
GSTAAD, Switzerland (Reuters) - Switzerland on Monday refused to extradite Roman Polanski to the United States to face sentencing for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977 and freed the Oscar-winning director from 10 months' arrest.
"He is a free man since 11:30 today," Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told a news conference in Switzerland's capital, Berne. "He can go to France or to Poland, anywhere where he will not be arrested."
Widmer-Schlumpf said she had decided against extradition because of potential technical faults in the U.S. request and also because Polanski had for years come to Switzerland in good faith.
Polanski, 76, who won a best director Oscar for his portrait of life in the Warsaw Jewish ghetto of World War Two in "The Pianist," was arrested on September 26 upon arrival in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival.
He had been under house arrest since December 2009 at his mountain chalet in the chic ski town of Gstaad on a 4.5 million Swiss franc ($4.26 million) bail, his movements constrained by an electronic foot bracelet.
"The electronic surveillance has now been switched off," Widmer-Schlumpf said on Monday.
A person who identified herself as Polanski's assistant told Reuters that Polanski had left Gstaad. She declined to give further details.
The Swiss Justice Ministry said the United States had failed to turn over documents regarding a reported pledge by the original judge that the 42 days Polanski had spent behind bars for psychiatric assessment in 1978 would serve as his full sentence.
"If this were the case, Roman Polanski would actually already have served his sentence and therefore the proceedings on which the U.S. extradition request is founded and the request itself would have no foundation," the Justice Ministry statement said.
In Los Angeles, District Attorney Steve Cooley told the Los Angeles Times he was "genuinely surprised and disappointed" at the Swiss ruling.
Cooley's office, which had fought hard to have Polanski returned to Los Angeles, was expected to issue a formal statement later on Monday.
The U.S. Department of Justice declined immediate comment.
"It is certainly a disappointment for U.S. prosecutors," Robert Mintz, a former U.S. federal prosecutor, told Reuters. Mintz said U.S. prosecutors will now "have to regroup and assess whether they have any real hope of satisfying the Swiss authorities."
Widmer-Schlumpf said Washington could appeal the decision internationally but she did not expect that to happen.
Polanski's arrest in September 2009 prompted an outcry in France, where he has been a long-time resident. Movie directors from Woody Allen to Martin Scorsese and Jean-Luc Godard also expressed support for the Polish-French artist.
FREE MAN
Polanski's release follows years of legal wrangling in the Los Angeles courts.
"It's an enormous satisfaction and a great relief after the pain suffered by Roman Polanski and his family," said Polanski's lawyer, Herve Temime.
The director's Los Angeles legal team had no immediate comment on the ruling.
Polanski's release was welcomed by French artists and politicians.
"The great Franco-Polish director will from now on be able to rejoin his friends and family and work fully on his artistic projects," said French Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner.
"Switzerland has found the path to reason ... What a beautiful lesson in democracy," said Bernard Henri-Levy, philosopher and a close friend.
The Polish Foreign Ministry also welcomed the Swiss decision.
Polanski pleaded guilty to having sex with the girl after giving her champagne and drugs but fled the United States on the eve of his 1978 sentencing, fearing the judge would renege on a plea agreement limiting his punishment to the 42 days he already had spent behind bars for psychiatric evaluation.
Polanski has lived in Europe ever since, facing the prospect of arrest the moment he set foot back on U.S. soil while continuing his film career outside Hollywood.
Born to Polish-Jewish parents in 1933, he escaped from the Krakow ghetto. His pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, was murdered by followers of cult leader Charles Manson in 1969.
Polanski is known for classics such as "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby." He completed his latest film "The Ghost Writer," while under arrest in Switzerland.
"The time for calm has come," said French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand. "The difficult past, the rich personality, the universally admired works of Roman Polanski should all regain their standing."
(Writing by Lisa Jucca; Additional reporting by Catherine Bosley and Silke Koltrowitz in Zurich, Thierry Leveque and Julien Ponthus in Paris, Christine Kearney in New York, and Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles, Editing by Sandra Maler))
