POLISH FILM director Roman Polanski is to be released by Swiss authorities after two months in prison on bail of €3 million.
The surprise announcement follows the 76-year-old's detention on September 26th for possible extradition to the US.
Some 32 years earlier, he fled the US for Europe after pleading guilty to charges of unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.
A court in the Swiss city of Bellinzona said Mr Polanski's passport would be retained and he would have to remain in the country, his movements monitored by an electronic tagging device.
Providing there are no objections to the court's ruling within the next 10 days, Mr Polanski will be released to serve his house arrest at his chalet in Gstaad.
Justice minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said she had no problem with the court's ruling, saying it was a "sound judgment based on the facts at hand".
"But the extradition process is still ongoing," she said.
"This was just about deciding where Mr Polanski will stay until a decision is made on whether or not to extradite him."
Given Mr Polanski's record, the Swiss court admitted there was a danger that the director would disappear for a second time.
However, the likelihood of this happening was not high enough to warrant continued imprisonment. Instead the court said it favoured a cash bond of 4.5 million Swiss francs, what it called a "substantial part" of his fortune.
A Parisian bank is understood to have provided the money, with Mr Polanski's Paris apartment serving as collateral.
This latest development comes a month after the director lost an appeal against the extradition proceedings.
Extradition papers have since arrived from the US and are being studied by Swiss authorities.
Mr Polanski's lawyer, who is understood to have suggested the bail deal, said the two-month imprisonment had been very hard on the director and his family.
"He's putting on a brave face in prison, even if he finds this all hard and unjust," said Hervé Temime, the director's lawyer, to Le Figaronewspaper.