Swiss to decide Polanski bail bid in 'days': diplomat

Swiss authorities are expected to decide in a few days if they will release on bail film director Roman Polanski, who was arrested in September on a US warrant, a French envoy said Friday.

"The Bellinzona tribunal should make an announcement in the next few days," French Consul General Jean-Luc Faure-Tournaire told AFP.

Swiss newspaper Blick had reported that the court could make a decision Friday on whether the Oscar-winning director, who was arrested on a US warrant over child sex offence charges dating to 1977, should be freed on bail.

However, Faure-Tournaire said Blick's claim was "an interpretation," and that "no one has said that the court would make an announcement today."

One of Polanski's lawyers, Herve Temime, has also denied that a decision was expected Friday.

"There is no decision made today and I don't know when the tribunal's decision will be announced... I have no idea at all," he told AFP in Paris.

According to Blick, Polanski is being held in a prison in Winterthur, just north of Zurich.

The newspaper also published photos of a visit by the French envoy to the prison.

Faure-Tournaire confirmed that he was at the prison, but declined to say if he had seen Polanski.

He said, however, that he was "worried" about the health of the 76-year-old director.

The Oscar-winning director has been regarded as a fugitive by US authorities since he fled the country in 1978 after admitting to sex with a 13-year-old girl.

A Polish-French national, Polanksi was arrested on September 26 in Zurich where he had gone to collect an award at the Swiss city's film festival.