Woody Allen defends Roman Polanski

Woody Allen has defended filmmaker Roman Polanski - insisting that the director has already 'suffered' in relation to his ongoing child sex case.

Polanski is currently under house arrest in Switzerland fighting extradition to America following his arrest in Zurich in September.

The director had fled the country following his crime in 1977 before he could be handed his sentence.

A group of moviemakers signed a petition at the Cannes Film Festival in France requesting Swiss officials to reject US lawmakers' pressure to extradite him.

"It's something that happened many years ago... He's an artist, he's a nice person, he did something wrong and he paid for it. They (his critics) are not happy unless he pays (for) the rest of his life. They would be happy if they could execute him in a firing squad. Enough is enough," The Daily Star quoted Allen as telling French radio station RTL.

Allen's comments followed allegations of Brit actress Charlotte Lewis, who claimed that Polanski had raped her when she was 16 years old.