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| Film director Roman Polanski, arrives to watch his wife Emmanuelle Seigner, French singer and actress, perform at the Stravinski Hall stage at the 44th Montreux Jazz Festival, in Montreux, Switzerland, July 17, 2010. This is the first public appearance for Polanski since the Oscar-winning director was freed earlier this month from house arrest when the Swiss government refused to deport him to the United States, on charges relating to a 1977 child sex case.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) |
GENEVA, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Film director Roman Polanski made his first public appearance Saturday, attending the Montreaux Jazz Festival to watch his wife perform.
The Oscar-winning director was freed Monday from seven months of house arrest after the Swiss government refused to extradite him to the United States to face justice for having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
Polanski, 76, who made famous films like "The Pianist" and "Chinatown," was arrested on a U.S. extradition request on Sept. 26 last year in Zurich, where he had been invited to receive an achievement award at a Swiss film festival.
Polanski was mobbed by photographers when he emerged, with a trademark gesture brushing his fingers through hair, then ushered into elevator with heavy security. He did not speak or appear on the stage during his wife's 55-minute set, which he watched from a VIP box.
His wife, actress and singer Emmanuelle Seigner, wearing a black hat, black jeans and boots, began her performance with the theme song from Polanski's 1968 classic film "Rosemary's Baby."
In an interview with Swiss television broadcast Saturday night, Polanski, who holds dual French and Polish nationality, said "I maintained a great friendship for Switzerland and above all for its people who solidly supported me."
"I do not know what I am going to do next," according to the transcript of the interview on the website of Television Suisse Romande. "For the moment, I am happy to be free."
He said his son Elvis had cut the electronic bracelet he had worn throughout his house arrest in Gstaad, adding that "I could easily have escaped but I never wanted to."
Polanski said he would return to Gstaad where its inhabitants brought him flowers, wine and support. He thanked those who defended him, despite the controversy over the case.
"Without my family, I would never have succeeded in keeping my dignity and perseverance," he said.
The 44-year-old Seigner, star of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," told Radio Suisse Romande that she was very happy he (Polanski) was there as he had not been at her concert before.
Polanski has not returned to the United States since 1977, when he fled after making a plea bargain in the child sex case. The victim, Samantha Geimer, has repeatedly asked for the case to be dropped. She said again on Tuesday she hoped the matter would now be closed.
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