Movie director Roman Polanski, wanted by the United States for having sex with a minor almost 40 years ago, has turned down an invitation to head the jury at France&#39;s Cesar film awards following an outcry from women&#39;s groups.

The choice of Polanski for the Cesar event, France&#39;s equivalent of the Oscars, was criticised by the minister for women&#39;s rights, Laurence Rossignol, last week.

&quot;It&#39;s surprising and shocking,&quot; she told France Culture. &quot;It sends a signal of indifference.&quot;&nbsp;

The Osez le feminisme women&#39;s right group has called for a boycott and protest at the awards ceremony scheduled for Feb. 24. A petition signed by 61,000 people said Polanski had enjoyed &quot;scandalous protection&quot; by France and that his nomination as jury president was an insult to women and rape victims.&nbsp;

Announcing his decision to step down from the jury, Polanski&#39;s lawyer Herve Temime said on Tuesday: &quot;This controversy has been generated by totally unfounded information, forty years after the issue in question.&quot;

&quot;It has deeply saddened Roman Polanski and his family,&quot; Temime said.

The Polish-born Polanski, now aged 83, pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with a 13-year-old girl during a photo shoot in Los Angeles. He served 42 days in jail after a plea bargain but later fled the United States fearing a lengthy jail time if the deal was overruled.

His case remains an international cause celebre, where some argue it is time to drop U.S. demands for his extradition but others say he must be punished.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney&#39;s Office has long insisted Polanski remains a fugitive and subject to immediate arrest in the United States because he fled the country before sentencing.

It says his case cannot be resolved until Polanski, who has both French and Polish citizenship and lives mostly in Paris, returns to California to face justice.

France does not extradite its nationals. A Polish court last year ruled against his extradition to the United States and an earlier attempt to have him extradited from Switzerland when he went there also failed.&nbsp;

Samantha Geimer, the victim in the case, has made clear she believes Polanski&#39;s long exile has been punishment enough, a point lawyer Temime underlined in his Tuesday statement.

His most notable films include &quot;Chinatown&quot; and &quot;The Pianist&quot;, which earned him the Oscar for best director in 2002.

(Reuters)

Roman Polanski, wanted by the US for having sex with a minor, quit jury after feminists called for boycotting the award ceremony

Movie director Roman Polanski, wanted by the United States for having sex with a minor almost 40 years ago, has turned down an invitation to head the jury at France's Cesar film awards following an outcry from women's groups. The choice of Polanski for the Cesar event, France's equivalent of the Oscars, was criticised by the minister for women's rights, Laurence Rossignol, last week. "It's surprising and shocking," she told France Culture. "It sends a signal of indifference." The Osez le feminisme women's right group has called for a boycott and protest at the awards ceremony scheduled for Feb. 24. A petition signed by 61,000 people said Polanski had enjoyed "scandalous protection" by France and that his nomination as jury president was an insult to women and rape victims. Announcing his decision to step down from the jury, Polanski's lawyer Herve Temime said on Tuesday: "This controversy has been generated by totally unfounded information, forty years after the issue in question." "It has deeply saddened Roman Polanski and his family," Temime said. The Polish-born Polanski, now aged 83, pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with a 13-year-old girl during a photo shoot in Los Angeles. He served 42 days in jail after a plea bargain but later fled the United States fearing a lengthy jail time if the deal was overruled. His case remains an international cause celebre, where some argue it is time to drop U.S. demands for his extradition but others say he must be punished. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has long insisted Polanski remains a fugitive and subject to immediate arrest in the United States because he fled the country before sentencing. It says his case cannot be resolved until Polanski, who has both French and Polish citizenship and lives mostly in Paris, returns to California to face justice. France does not extradite its nationals. A Polish court last year ruled against his extradition to the United States and an earlier attempt to have him extradited from Switzerland when he went there also failed. Samantha Geimer, the victim in the case, has made clear she believes Polanski's long exile has been punishment enough, a point lawyer Temime underlined in his Tuesday statement. His most notable films include "Chinatown" and "The Pianist", which earned him the Oscar for best director in 2002. (Reuters)

Filmmaker Polanski turns down Cesar jury invitation amid protests

Feminists called for protests Thursday at the &quot;French Oscars&quot; next month after controversial film director Roman Polanski agreed to preside over the ceremony.&nbsp;

The maker of &quot;Chinatown&quot; and &quot;Rosemary&#39;s Baby&quot; has been wanted in the US for almost four decades for the rape of a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles in 1977.&nbsp;

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<h5>In 1978, convinced that a judge was going to scrap the deal and hand him a hefty prison sentence, Polanski fled to France</h5>
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Polanski, 83, last month defeated a bid to extradite him from his native Poland, telling reporters, &quot;I&#39;ll finally be able to feel safe in my own country.&quot;&nbsp;

But the decision to honour him at the annual Cesars ceremony has infuriated women&#39;s groups, with many taking to social media calling for a boycott of the televised show.

The leading group Osez le feminisme (Dare feminism) called the decision by the French Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques &quot;shameful&quot;, and urged people to protest outside.

&quot;We are extremely angry,&quot; spokeswoman Claire Serre-Combe told AFP. &quot;We cannot let this pass.

&quot;Making Polanski president is a snub to rape and sexual assault victims. Some people say that he is a great film-maker, that everything is relative.

&quot;The quality of his work counts for nothing when confronted with the crime he committed, his escape from justice and his refusal to face up to his responsibilities,&quot; she added.

Polanski, who was 43 at the time, was accused of drugging the girl before having sex with her.&nbsp;

France&#39;s minister for women&#39;s rights, Laurence Rossignol,&nbsp;said Friday she found it &quot;surprising and shocking&quot; that a rape case counts for little in the life of a man&quot;.

The choice of 83-year-old Polanski to head the Cesars jury showed &quot;an indifference with regard to the acts of which he is accused&quot; and &quot;a sort of banalisation of rape,&quot; she said. 
&nbsp; 
&#39;It was 40 years ago&#39; 
&nbsp; 
He pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor, or statutory rape, as part of a plea bargain under which he served 42 days in detention while undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

But in 1978, convinced that a judge was going to scrap the deal and hand him a hefty prison sentence, Polanski fled to France.

The academy had earlier praised Polanski as an &quot;insatiable aesthete&quot; and former French culture minister Aurelie Filippetti defended him as a &quot;great director... who should be allowed to preside over the ceremony.

&quot;It is something that happened 40 years ago. One cannot bring up this affair every time we talk about him because there was a problem back them,&quot; she told French public radio.&nbsp;

&quot;It is just an awards ceremony, we should not give any more importance to it that than that,&quot; said the novelist and Socialist MP.

Ironically, the film which is likely to win biggest at this year&#39;s Cesars is &quot;Elle&quot;, about a rape victim who takes her revenge on her attacker by extracting her own sexual pleasure from him.&nbsp;

It won best foreign film at the Golden Globes in Los Angeles earlier this month, and best actress for its star Isabelle Huppert.

Polanski, who is Franco-Polish, was arrested in Switzerland in 2009 on a US extradition request and spent 10 months under house arrest before Bern rejected the US order.

The US then asked Poland to extradite him in January 2015, but a Krakow court rejected the demand the in October, with the country&#39;s supreme court backing the decision two months later. 
 
(AFP)

The maker of 'Rosemary's Baby' has been wanted in the US for almost four decades for the rape of a 13-year-old girl in LA in 1977

Feminists called for protests Thursday at the "French Oscars" next month after controversial film director Roman Polanski agreed to preside over the ceremony. The maker of "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" has been wanted in the US for almost four decades for the rape of a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles in 1977. In 1978, convinced that a judge was going to scrap the deal and hand him a hefty prison sentence, Polanski fled to France × Polanski, 83, last month defeated a bid to extradite him from his native Poland, telling reporters, "I'll finally be able to feel safe in my own country." But the decision to honour him at the annual Cesars ceremony has infuriated women's groups, with many taking to social media calling for a boycott of the televised show. The leading group Osez le feminisme (Dare feminism) called the decision by the French Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques "shameful", and urged people to protest outside. "We are extremely angry," spokeswoman Claire Serre-Combe told AFP. "We cannot let this pass. "Making Polanski president is a snub to rape and sexual assault victims. Some people say that he is a great film-maker, that everything is relative. "The quality of his work counts for nothing when confronted with the crime he committed, his escape from justice and his refusal to face up to his responsibilities," she added. Polanski, who was 43 at the time, was accused of drugging the girl before having sex with her. France's minister for women's rights, Laurence Rossignol, said Friday she found it "surprising and shocking" that a rape case counts for little in the life of a man". The choice of 83-year-old Polanski to head the Cesars jury showed "an indifference with regard to the acts of which he is accused" and "a sort of banalisation of rape," she said. 'It was 40 years ago' He pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor, or statutory rape, as part of a plea bargain under which he served 42 days in detention while undergoing psychiatric evaluation. But in 1978, convinced that a judge was going to scrap the deal and hand him a hefty prison sentence, Polanski fled to France. The academy had earlier praised Polanski as an "insatiable aesthete" and former French culture minister Aurelie Filippetti defended him as a "great director... who should be allowed to preside over the ceremony. "It is something that happened 40 years ago. One cannot bring up this affair every time we talk about him because there was a problem back them," she told French public radio. "It is just an awards ceremony, we should not give any more importance to it that than that," said the novelist and Socialist MP. Ironically, the film which is likely to win biggest at this year's Cesars is "Elle", about a rape victim who takes her revenge on her attacker by extracting her own sexual pleasure from him. It won best foreign film at the Golden Globes in Los Angeles earlier this month, and best actress for its star Isabelle Huppert. Polanski, who is Franco-Polish, was arrested in Switzerland in 2009 on a US extradition request and spent 10 months under house arrest before Bern rejected the US order. The US then asked Poland to extradite him in January 2015, but a Krakow court rejected the demand the in October, with the country's supreme court backing the decision two months later. (AFP)

Furore after Polanski picked to head 'French Oscars' jury

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Filmmaker Polanski turns down Cesar jury invitation amid protests

Furore after Polanski picked to head 'French Oscars' jury