PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th November, 2022) The hearings in the case of French-Polish movie director Roman Polanski, whom actress Charlotte Lewis accused of defamation, will take place in Paris on March 5, 2024, the Figaro newspaper reported on Tuesday.
In 2010, the UK actress, who starred in Polanski's film Pirates in 1986, claimed that the filmmaker raped her when she was 16 years old. In 2019, Polanski called Lewis' accusations "a heinous lie" and pointed out contradictions in her testimony, according to Paris Match magazine. Lewis filed a complaint against Polanski, accusing the director of defamation over her testimony.
Earlier in the day, the Paris correctional court ruled that Polanski will be tried on March 5, 2024 in Paris for questioning the veracity of sexual assault allegations made against him by Lewis, the report read.
The newspaper noted that the 89-year-old director has never been tried in France in cases concerning rape allegations.
Prior to that, the filmmaker pleaded guilty to raping13-year-old Samantha Geimer in 1977. During the investigation, which took place in the United States, he was detained and spent 42 days in a state prison, after which he was released before sentencing. Later, amid media pressure, the judge ordered Polanski to be sent back to prison for another 48 days, but the director fled to Europe.
In 2019, French actress Valentine Monnier told Le Parisien newspaper that she had also been abused by the director in 1975.
