GENEVA — Swiss authorities have rejected a US extradition request for director Roman Polanski over a child sex case and the film-maker can go free from house arrest, the justice minister said Monday.

"The 76-year-old French-Polish film director Roman Polanski will not be extradited to the USA. The freedom-restricting measures against him have been revoked," Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told a press conference, reading from a statement.

"The reason for the decision lies in the fact that it was not possible to exclude with the necessary certainty a fault in the US extradition request, although the issue was thoroughly examined," she said.