With the increasingly bleak fate of Roman Polanski in the hands of the Swiss, the Oscar-winning director has broken a long bout of silence over his potential extradition to the US. His statement, which reeks of last-ditch desperation, feels like too little, too late.

From the statement:

"I can no longer remain silent because the United States continues to demand my extradition more to serve me on a platter to the media of the world than to pronounce a judgment concerning which an agreement was reached 33 years ago ... I can remain silent no longer because I have been placed under house arrest in Gstaad and bailed in very large sum of money which I have managed to raise only by mortgaging the apartment that has been my home for over 30 years, and because I am far from my family and unable to work."

Polanski, who fled to Switzerland 33 years ago after he was charged with statutory rape, was re-arrested last year under orders by US authorities and has since been trying to avoid being shipped back to California for sentencing, unsuccessfully. He remains under house arrest in his home (which actually looks like quite a lovely place to be holed up!) in Switzerland, waiting around for the Swiss authorities to hand him over to the US.

His statement, full of repeated and emboldened claims that he can "no longer remain silent," emphasizes a testimony made by his original prosecutor, which allegedly says that the very brief period of time he spent in prison in 1977 constituted the totality of his sentence.

"I can remain silent no longer because the request for my extradition addressed to the Swiss authorities is founded on a lie," Polanski wrote.

The mysterious testimony of the now-retired district attorney is sealed in secrecy, and the Swiss have already said they're not interested in unsealing it, which effectively puts them on the side of the US authorities demanding his extradition. Maybe Polanski can draw from the unwavering support of the French people and have Nicolas Sarkozy slip Obama a personal letter on his behalf?

Image courtesy Georges Biard / Wikimedia Commons.