GSTAAD, Switzerland — Roman Polanski’s life took a dramatic turn for the better Friday as he traded a Swiss jail for house arrest surrounded by family in his luxury Alpine chalet.
It’s not clear how long this splendid captivity will last — the threat of extradition to the United States and a possible prison term there still hang over the 76-year-old director.
But surely there are worse fates than being stuck in the tony resort of Gstaad, gazing up at the snow-covered Swiss Alps with your wife and two children by your side — especially after two months in a Swiss jail.
Polanski cannot leave the three-story house and its garden while Swiss authorities decide whether to send him to Los Angeles to face sentencing in a 32-year-old sex case.
The United States wants Polanski to face sentencing for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
The Oscar-winning director can receive guests, hold parties at the house and order in gourmet meals. He has views of snowcapped Alpine peaks, spacious rooms and all the amenities of a town known for its skill at catering to the wishes of the rich and famous.
Of course, there is the minor inconvenience of the electronic-monitoring ankle bracelet, which ensures Polanski doesn’t flee as he did from U.S. justice more than three decades ago.
He was wearing the ankle bracelet Friday as he arrived at the chalet in a police convoy, a Justice Ministry spokesman said.
If Polanski breaks the conditions for his bail, the Swiss government confiscates the $4.5 million he deposited. That substantial bail amount was a key element in granting the house arrest — a first in Switzerland for a detainee in an extradition case.
