After renouncing the presidency of the 42nd Cesar ceremony, the Franco-Polish filmmaker plans to return to the United States to put an end to the charges that undermine his notoriety, provided he is guaranteed not to be incarcerated.
Will Roman Polanski be a fugitive anymore? The 83-year-old director wants to return to the United States to end the rape case of a minor who has been pursuing him for 40 years, provided he is guaranteed that he will not be incarcerated, according to His lawyer Harland Braun, this Thursday.
The latter wants to enforce an amicable agreement mentioned in a sealed document according to which a prosecutor would have accepted that there remain only 48 days behind the bars for the rape of Samantha Gailey, 13 at the time in 1977.
The filmmaker nevertheless said that he "did not envisage at all" to attend the hearing which is to consider his request scheduled for next week.
The 1978 agreement
In the 1978 agreement, Judge Laurence Rittenband stated that, given the popularity of the director, she pledged to keep Roman Polanski in custody for 48 days. But she had changed her mind and had come back on the deal, saying that the filmmaker should spend up to 50 years behind bars, triggering his flight to Europe. The document proves that she abused her position on the release of the director. This is an element that could allow the director to return to the United States and finally find a way out of this file that dragged on for forty years.
An amicable settlement
"After confirming the content" of the minutes of the amicable agreement, his lawyers also want to have a decision from the Polish Supreme Court, which ended the procedure of extradition of the filmmaker to the United States in December; a procedure Initiated by an American prosecutor, they also told a local source on Thursday.
Samantha Gailey's repeated request
The prosecution of the director has recently prevented him from presiding over the ceremony of the Caesars. The suspected victim of Roman Polanski, now 54 years old, has, in any case, called for the abandonment of the prosecution against him for years.
The Supreme Court of the United States has always ignored the request of Samantha Gailey. The question now is whether American justice will find this secret agreement credible or ignore it. And if it will be enough to completely close the case.
