Johnny Depp defends Roman Polanski

Sydney (ANI): Johnny Depp has spoken in defence of director Roman Polanski who is accused of indulging in unlawful sex with a minor. Polanski was arrested in Switzerland last September over a 30-year-old statutory rape charge and is currently fighting extradition to the US over conviction for the alleged sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star Depp, who worked with the 76-year-old filmmaker in the 1999 movie The Ninth Gate, believes there is more to the case than meets the eye. "Why now? Obviously there is something going on somewhere. Somebody has made a deal with someone. Maybe there was a little money involved, but why now?" the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Depp as telling the Independent newspaper. Depp added: "Roman is not a predator. He's 75 or 76 years old. He has got two beautiful kids, he has got a wife that he has been with for a long long time. He is not out on the street."