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Lawyer ‘very worried’ about Polanski’s health
Could ‘depressed’ Roman Polanski be planning an appeal to be released on compassionate grounds?
Roman Polanski is "depressed" and in an "unsettled state of mind", according to the film director's lawyer.
Herve Temime, who visited his client on Friday, has been talking to the media - seemingly in an effort to drum up sympathy for Polanski, who has been the victim of a public backlash after initially enjoying a surge of support when he was arrested three weeks ago at the request of US authorities.
Polanski is appealing against his extradition to the United States after a 1977 conviction for having sex with an underage girl.
"Roman Polanski, who is 76, seemed very dejected when I visited him," Herve Temime told Swiss paper NZZ. In another interview with Sonntag, Temime said: "I found him to be tired and depressed."
But it is his lawyer's comments to AFP that suggest an alternative tack if Polanski's efforts to win his freedom fail.
Temine told the agency he was "very worried" about Polanski's health, saying: "I found him very worn out, he's a 76-year-old man."
Polanski last week had an appeal for bail thrown out by the courts – but is still pursuing a case requesting the extradition be dropped.
Is it possible that, if this legal avenue fails, Polanski could be planning to follow the example of General Pinochet, Ronnie Biggs and Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who have all used ill-health either to gain their freedom from prison on compassionate grounds, or to avoid trial? ·
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She was 13. He's a paedophile rapist. If he feels ill, good. He has enjoyed his younger years when he should have been inside. He deserves extra punishment to balance that. It sickens me people sympathise because of his work as a film producer. I bet many who support him are outraged (one law for the rich etc.) when they see wealthy buying themselves out of trouble.