Swiss Refuse to Extradite Roman Polanski to the U.S.

Renowned film director Roman Polanski will not be extradited from Switzerland to the U.S. on a decades-old charge of having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

The Swiss government blamed U.S. authorities for failing to provide confidential testimony about Polanski's sentencing procedure in 1977-1978, the Associated Press reported. The Swiss government also said it took national interest into consideration.

''Mr. Polanski can now move freely. Since 12:30 today he's a free man,'' Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf declared.

Polanski pleaded guilty to having unlawful sexual intercourse in 1977. The defense says he was led to believe this would lead to the judge sentencing him to a 90-day diagnostic study. When the judge changed his mind and summoned him for further sentencing, Polanski fled to his native France.

He was arrested on Sept. 26 of last year when he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival.