The Federal Justice Office has received official confirmation that a U.S. court will not allow Roman Polanski to be tried without being present.  

A U.S. appeals court made the decision last week, but the official confirmation means that Switzerland must

now decide whether to extradite the film director to the U.S.

Polanksi was arrested on arrival in Zurich airport last September over charges of having illegal sexual relations with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

He spent two months in prison and has since been under house arrest in Switzerland, as courts in the U.S. decided whether he could be tried in absentia.

Swiss authorities had said they would wait until they had received official confirmation from the U.S. before deciding whether or not to send the film director back to be tried in the America.

If Switzerland decides to extradite the 76-year-old, he would have 30 days do lodge an appeal.

more WRS coverage on Polanski