MUMBAI: Ending his silence, Roman Polanski accused American authorities of "trying to serve me on a platter to the media of the world," instead of honouring what he described as an agreement, made decades ago, to limit his punishment to the time already served.

"I have decided to break my silence in order to address myself directly to you without any intermediaries and in my own words," Polanski said in the statement.

Charged with various offenses, including rape, Polanski pleaded guilty to having unlawful sex with a minor. He spent 42 days in a California state prison during a psychiatric evaluation, but fled the country before final sentencing by Judge Laurence J. Rittenband.

Lawyers of Polanski have argued in court that Judge Rittenband, who died in 1993, committed improprieties in the case and had promised that the psychiatric evaluation would be the filmmaker‘s entire sentence.

Prosecutors and a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge have insisted that Polanski cannot pursue his claims until he returns to the United States. But his lawyers have argued that an extradition request sent to Swiss authorities concealed facts that would show that he does not qualify for extradition.

The Los Angeles County district attorney‘s office has strongly disputed that claim