Swiss keep Polanski in jail to deter escape

GENEVA — Roman Polanski's three decades as a fugitive are coming back to haunt him.

Noting his previous escape from U.S. authorities, Switzerland's top criminal court on Tuesday rejected Polanski's appeal to be released from prison because of the "high" risk that the 76-year-old director would try to flee again.

Polanski's offers of bail, house arrest and electronic monitoring failed to sway the tribunal. Even a Swiss chalet in the luxury resort of Gstaad was brushed aside as insufficient collateral to guard against Polanski fleeing the country, as the United States seeks to have him extradited for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

"The appellant has already once in 1978 eluded American criminal proceedings by traveling to Europe," the Federal Criminal Court said in its 17-page verdict, adding that Polanski's transfer to the U.S. could also cause family trauma and cost investors millions of dollars in losses.

"As a result, the motivation to flee is high," it said.

Tuesday's ruling was another setback to the Oscar-winning director's battle to avoid facing authorities in Los Angeles, where he pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with the girl. He was arrested on an international warrant by the Swiss on Sept. 26 as he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award from a film festival, and has been battling extradition ever since.

Beyond Polanski's legal troubles, the decision could have damaging consequences for his latest film, "The Ghost," a political thriller that has several months of work left before it is ready for theaters.

Polanski and his family will go bankrupt if he has to remain in prison, his lawyers told the court. They said continued incarceration would prevent him from finishing the film starring Pierce Brosnan as a fictional British leader and Ewan McGregor as the politician's ghostwriter.

Investors stand to lose $40 million if Polanski isn't freed, they said.

"It's probable that Mr. Polanski will appeal," Polanski's lawyer Herve Temime told reporters in Paris. "I repeat that Mr. Polanski has firmly and strongly stated that he will remain in Switzerland during the entire extradition procedure, regardless of its outcome."

Still, the tribunal in the southern Swiss city of Bellinzona left open several possibilities for Polanski to challenge its verdict in what is expected to be a lengthy legal battle over his extradition.