Oscar winning film director Roman Polanski arrested in Switzerland

Swiss police today, detained Oscar winning film director Roman Polanski, on a US warrant over three-decade-old charges of unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, a film festival organiser said. The 76-year-old controversial  director was arrested yesterday after he arrived to receive an award at the Zurich film festival.

Festival organisers said that they were "shocked and saddened" by the arrest and would indefinitely postpone awarding the prize, which he was to receive today in honour of his film career.

Polanski, famed for films such as "Rosemary's Baby" and "Chinatown," fled the US in 1978 before being sentenced for his guilty plea to a charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.

A Los Angeles judge refused in May the fugitive director's bid to dismiss the case after Polanski, who lives in France, failed to appear in court.

Polanski's legal team argued that the film-maker's conviction should be annulled on the grounds of misconduct, claiming the late judge who heard his case in the 1970s had improperly colluded with prosecutors.

The challenge was made after the allegation of misconduct emerged in a documentary released last year "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired."