in a local magazine urging people to show thought and responsibility when dealing with outsiders or the press and its not just glitzy gstaad that polanski draws support from in a recent interview with a french publication his sisterinlaw mathilde seigner credited french president nicolas sarkozy with helping to obtain the release of the filmmaker from the swiss prison the president has been very effective seigner told le parisien newspaper without going into any details polanski took refuge in france after fleeing the us but president sarkozy was widely criticized for condemning the arrest in september this year since many felt that it was about time that the director facedup to his criminal past polanski has long accused the judge and prosecutors back in 1978 of acting improperly in the case his lawyers will argue for the case to be dismissed before a california appeals court on dec 10