London:
Switzerland's top criminal court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of Academy Award winning director Roman Polanski saying that the risk of his fleeing the country, pending extradition to the US, was "high".
The 76-year-old director who is wanted in the US for having illegal sex with a minor, had put up his chalet in the Swiss ski resort of Gstaad as bail but the court rejected it.
"The Swiss Federal Criminal Court has rejected Roman Polanski's appeal against detention pending extradition," the court said in a statement.
"The court considered the risk that Roman Polanski might flee if released from custody as high," it added.
The 'Pianist' helmer who had fled the US in 1978, was detained by the Swiss police when he came to Zurich on September 26 to collect an award at the city's film festival.
"According to Swiss law, detention is the rule during the entire extradition proceedings," said the court.
Polanski's French lawyer Herve Temime has said his client was depressed and tired and has been moved from jail for medical treatment.
Temime was not available for comment Tuesday but AFP quoted him as saying that Polanksi would appeal against the decision and offer stronger guarantees to ease concerns he might flee Switzerland.
The court had declined the proposal of combining bail and house arrest with electronic monitoring as Polanski can easily escape across the border from Switzerland to France.