Switzerland denied a request to release film director Roman Polanski, who was arrested in September after fleeing sentencing for a decades-old sex charge, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
Polanski pleaded guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977 but fled the United States on the eve of his 1978 sentencing because he believed a judge might overrule his plea and put him in jail for 50 years.
"In our view, there is still a very high risk that he will flee and that a release on bail or other measures after a release cannot guarantee Polanski's presence in the extradition procedure," Federal Office of Justice spokesman Folco Galli said.
The justice office asked a Swiss Penal Court to reject Polanski's appeal to be released, Galli said.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
