Polanski appeals against Swiss decision to reject bail

GENEVA (AFP) - Switzerland's top criminal court said Tuesday that film-maker Roman Polanski, being held here on three decades-old child sex charges, has appealed against a decision to turn down his bail request.

"We received the confirmation today. It is an appeal against the Swiss Federal Office of Justice's decision to reject his bail request," said Patrick Guidon, spokesman for the court.

Guidon added that according to the law, Polanski can make repeated requests to be released on bail. The United States has requested his extradition.

The Swiss Federal Justice Office turned down Polanski's most recent appeal to be freed on bail on Friday, saying the risk that the French-Polish movie director would escape the country was "still too high."

Switzerland's top criminal court rejected a similar request from the 76-year-old film-maker on October 20.

The court found then that Polanski's bail offer of his chalet in the Swiss ski resort of Gstaad was not in line with requirements set by the law. It then told Polanski that he could make a renewed bail offer to the Justice Office.

The director of "Rosemary's Baby", "Chinatown" and "The Pianist" has been regarded as a fugitive by US authorities since he fled the United States in 1978 after admitting to having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

He was detained by Swiss police acting on a US extradition warrant when he went to Zurich to collect an award at the city's film festival last month.

His lawyers will ask a California appeals court on December 10 to dismiss the child sex conviction against Polanski, legal sources said.

A three-judge panel from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal will hear Polanski's lawyers attempt to overturn a lower court ruling in May, where a judge dismissed the case on the grounds of Polanski's absence.

Polanski's lawyers have argued for the conviction to be set aside on the grounds that the judge and prosecutors in the 1978 case colluded improperly.

Polanski fled the United States in 1978 on the eve of a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with the girl.

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