MUMBAI: Roman Polanski‘s new film The Ghost Writer premiered at the Berlin Film Festival yesterday.

The director could not walk the red carpet for the debut of his film that stars Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan because he is under house arrest. In spite of hos absence, Polanski was still the star of the party, feted by his actors, producer and screenplay writer.

And in a new twist, the Swiss Justice Ministry declared it would make "no sense" to shift Polanski from house arrest until US courts ruled definitively that he must be sentenced in person to further jail time for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.

"When the question is still open, why should he be extradited?" Rudolf Wyss, the ministry‘s deputy director, told the press, adding, "As long as the question is still open, our decision depends on that."

"Even if we decide on extradition, he can still appeal. This would take many months," he added.

Polanski‘s extradition is a complicated and diplomatically sensitive decision, as it deals with a three-decade-old case full of alleged wrongdoing by a Los Angeles judge, a confused sentencing procedure and the director‘s own flight from justice.

The Ghost Writer, based on the novel by Robert Harris, is among the 20 films competing for the Berlin festival‘s top Golden Bear honour to be awarded on 20 February.