Polanski’s arrest was planned, claim US prosecutors

London: Following the arrest of acclaimed director Roman Polanski, US prosecutors have had to dispute claims that it had come out of the blues, saying that he had been on the Interpol “wanted list” for years.Polanski, 76, was arrested in Switzerland on September 26 over his conviction, 30 years ago, for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, and his agent, Jeff Berg, said the arrest made “no sense” as he had travelled extensively across Europe.

But US authorities have implied that Polanski had been very adept at evading arrest. “The idea that we have known where he is and we could have gotten him anytime, that just isn’t the case,” the BBC quoted Chief Inspector of the US Marshals Service Thomas Hession as saying. He said the Polish director had been on “red notice” by Interpol, alerting other countries that the US was seeking extradition. But he said proper legal channels had to be followed, which meant they had to know Polanski’s specific whereabouts before a country could be asked to act. “He knows where he can go. He knows where he can’t go. He’s been a careful man all these years,” Los Angeles deputy district attorney Richard Doyle had previously stated in court testimony. But Berg is still not convinced about Polanski’s arrest being something planned. “How hard would it be to find someone shooting a major film in a European country? He travels with transparency across Europe. It makes no sense,” he stated. The Swiss Criminal Court has said Polanski’s lawyers have requested the filmmaker’s release but precedent in Swiss law shows that the subjects of extradition requests are normally kept in detention. He is being held in Zurich, where he has been allowed to meet his wife, French actress Emmanuelle Seigner, as well as lawyers. ANI