[Iran Press TV Latest] Seven hundred celebrities and film industry figures have so far signed a petition for the release of director Roman Polanski.
The French-Polish director was arrested in Switzerland on September 26 in connection with a 1978 case involving child sex charges
The 76-year-old filmmaker, who had fled the US after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl, was arrested on an international warrant as he arrived in Zurich to receive an award for his lifetime achievement.
Spanish actress Penelope Cruz and French fashion designer Sonia Rykiel were the latest celebrities to sign the petition, which was launched a week ago by the French performance and visual artists association, SACD (sacd.fr).
"Filmmakers, actors, producers and technicians - everyone involved in international filmmaking - want him to know that he has their support and friendship," the petition reads.
Prominent directors Woody Allen, David Lynch and Martin Scorsese were among the first to sign the petition, later joined by Adrien Brody, the actor who starred in Polanski's Oscar-winning The Pianist, actor Gael Garcia Bernal and director Guillermo del Toro.
Pedro Almodovar, Monica Bellucci, Giuseppe Tornatore, Wim Wenders and Michael Mann are among the other celebrities who have signed up to the petition.
The SACD petition does not comment directly on the crime for which Polanski was convicted, instead condemning his arrest at 'an international cultural event'.
"Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision. It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, is used by the police to apprehend him," it said.
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