Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski, under house arrest in Switzerland, is suing three French publications for publishing photos he claims infringe his privacy, legal sources said here on Tuesday.
The French-Polish director, who has been hunted by the United States since he fled in
1978 after admitting unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, is suing VSD and Voici magazines and Le Journal du Dimanche paper, the sources said.
Polanski and his French actress wife Emmanuelle Seigner are seeking USD 110,000 in damages over the photos and accompanying articles in the publications. The photos in question, some of which show their children, were taken at Polanksi's chalet in the Swiss Alpine resort Gstaad where he is under house arrest after being released on bail on December 4.
A court hearing on the couple's suit is scheduled to be held in Paris on January 12, the sources said. Polanski was arrested when he flew into Switzerland on September 26 to attend a film festival.
A California appeals court yesterday rejected Polanski's bid to have his child sex case dismissed but demanded an "urgent" probe into the filmmaker's allegations of judicial misconduct.