Poland's PM calls for restraint in Polanski case

Poland's prime minister has urged his Cabinet ministers to use restraint in defending director Roman Polanski, reminding them Tuesday that the case was about "having sex with a child."

Polanski, a 76-year-old dual Polish and French citizen, was arrested Saturday as he arrived in Zurich to receive a life achievement award from a film festival. The United States has been seeking his extradition for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.

On Monday, Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski issued a joint plea with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner asking for Polanski's release and for the U.S. to offer him clemency.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Tuesday that Sikorski was motivated by "positive feelings toward a great artist" but stressed that the foreign minister had acted on his "own initiative."

Tusk acknowledged Polanski as an "outstanding Polish director" but said his ministers need to show "greater restraint" in defending him, saying it is a "case of rape and of punishment for having sex with a child."

"Which does not mean that Roman Polanski does not deserve the consular or legal assistance that any Polish citizen could need in a similar situation," Tusk added.

The Polish consul in Switzerland has offered such assistance to the director.