There will be more on this (alas) as the day and week unfolds, and I imagine Vanity Fair or Rolling Stone or someone has an exclusive first interview already in the works. But for now, via the AP, the Justice Ministry explained that U.S. authorities didn't supply testimony sought from Polanski's original 1978 sentencing for unlawful sex with a minor. Or, as passed along via statement: "The reason for the decision lies in the fact that it was not possible to exclude with the necessary certainty a fault in the US extradition request, although the issue was thoroughly examined." A ministry spokesperson added that "national interests were taken into consideration" as well, as though ambushing and arresting a 76-year-old filmmaker who'd just arrived to collect a lifetime achievement award -- and then keeping him in various stages of custody for the better part of a year -- doesn't already have a kind of diplomatic irredeemability written all over it.
Better late than never, I guess, but I can't imagine this is really just about some documents, particularly with those oddly worded official statements like "The freedom-restricting measures against him have been revoked" and caveats that the case was "not about deciding whether he is guilty or not guilty" making the rounds. Polanski remains in Gstaad for now. More to come here as events warrant, and as always, weigh in with your take below...