A French appeals court has confirmed the acquittal of Franco-Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski in a defamation case, in which British actor Charlotte Lewis accused him of libel after she claimed he had raped her.
The Paris court on Wednesday confirmed the ruling of a lower court in May, which found 91-year-old Polanski not guilty of defaming Lewis, 57, who alleges he raped her in Paris in 1983.
The verdict handed down in May – which Lewis appealed – related strictly to the charge of defamation, and not to Lewis’s accusation of rape against Polanski.
The appeals court also decided that Polanski had not committed a breach of civil duty and therefore did not owe Lewis any damages.
Polanski did not attend any of the hearings.
Lewis’s lawyer Benjamin Chouai described the ruling as “very questionable“. He added: “It gives Roman Polanski a sort of licence to kill via the media. He is being allowed to defame, discredit, tarnish. He will likely continue to do this against Charlotte Lewis, but also the other women.”
Meanwhile Polanski’s lawyer, Delphine Meillet, said the final acquittal was “very satisfying”. “It’s a great day for freedom of expression as it has again been confirmed that that when you are accused in the press you can defend yourself in the press,” she said.
In 2010, Lewis accused Polanski of abusing her “in the worst possible way” as a 16-year-old in 1983 in Paris, after she travelled there for a casting session.
Lewis maintains that the quotes attributed to her in that interview were not accurate.
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