Polanski Breaks Silence: I'm Being Served "On a Platter to the Media"

Oscar-winning filmmaker Roman Polanski said Sunday that he is being treated unfairly and that the U.S. is demanding his extradition from Switzerland in order to serve him "on a platter to the media," reports The Associated Press.

Polanski's latest appeal rejected

"I have had my share of dramas and joys, as we all have, and I am not going to try to ask you to pity my lot in life," Polanski said, breaking his months-long silence. "I ask only to be treated fairly like anyone else."

The 76-year old director of Chinatown and The Pianist accused Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, who is running for California attorney general, of using the case for publicity. The district attorney's spokeswoman, Sandi Gibbons, said the D.A.'s office "will withhold comment until the Swiss make a decision on his fugitive status."

Polanski's victim wants case dismissed

Polanski's most recent bid to have his case reviewed by a special counsel or to be sentenced in his absence was rejected last month by a California appeals court. Swiss officials say the Justice Ministry will not rush into a decision for extradition.

Polanski, whose most recent film is The Ghost Writer, was placed under house arrest at his chalet in Gstaad in November 2009. He was arrested Sept. 26 by Swiss authorities and is wanted by U.S. authorities for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977. He fled the United States in 1978 for France after pleading guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with the girl.