The first day of Roman Polanski's libel case against Condé Nast, the magazine publishers, was transformed this afternoon into a minute debate about seduction and the limits of callousness as the fugitive film director gave evidence via a video link from Paris.

Mr Polanski, who is suing Condé Nast for libel over a Vanity Fair article which claimed that he tried to seduce a stranger in a New York restaurant within days of his wife's death thirty-five years ago, was asked in detail about his views on seduction by Thomas Shields, QC, who is acting for Condé Nast.

Mr Shields asked Mr Polanski, 71, whether he seduced someone within four weeks of the funeral his wife, Sharon Tate, after she was murdered in August 1969.

"Maybe I was seduced by someone," replied Mr Polanski.

"It takes two to perform the act, Mr Polanski. Would you accept from me that that was therefore callous indifference to her memory?" asked Mr Shields.

"No, it wasn’t. I never thought that sex, particularly at that period, pre-AIDS, was something harmful. Quite the contrary," said the celebrated Polish director, who earlier described Tate as "the perfect woman".

When Mr Shields asked again if it showed "callous indifference" to seduce a woman four weeks after the death of Tate, Mr Polanski replied, "It depends what you call a seduction" - before comparing the relative merits of putting a hand on a woman's thigh and sleeping with a prostitute.

Mr Polanski has vigorously denied the claim made by Vanity Fair in 2002 that he attempted to seduce a "Swedish beauty" at Elaine's, a celebrity restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side, within weeks of his pregnant wife's death in 1969.

This morning, John Kelsey-Fry, QC, for Mr Polanski, said that the article, which relied on the recollections of Lewis Lapham, an author, amounted to an accusation of "monstrous conduct by any bereft husband and father-to-be".

The disputed passage claimed that Mr Polanski saw a beautiful Swedish stranger in the restaurant and started "inundating her with his Polish charm".

"Fascinated by his performance," the magazine quoted Mr Lapham saying, "I watched as he slid his hand inside her thigh and began a long, honeyed spiel which ended with the promise 'And I will make another Sharon Tate out of you'."

Referring to the article, Mr Kelsey-Fry said: "It means that in the immediate aftermath of hearing of the loss of his wife and child in brutal circumstances, he went on the pull and, moreover, exploited his now late wife’s name as a tool of seduction."

When asked by Mr Kelsey-Fry whether the allegation was true, Mr Polanski said: "It is an abominable lie."

Mr Polanski was shooting a film in London when Ms Tate was brutally murdered with four friends in August 1969 by a drug-crazed gang calling themselves the "Manson Family". She was eight months pregnant when she died.

Condé Nast deny libel, saying the article describes a real incident, although the company concedes that Mr Polanski's alleged flirting did not take place as he travelled to his wife's funeral. Rather, the company contends, it happened soon afterwards.

Earlier today, Mr Polanski told the jury he was giving his evidence via a video link from Paris rather than in person at the High Court because "coming to London I may risk an arrest".

Mr Polanski's case has attracted controversy because the House of Lords ruled in February that he was able to sue Condé Nast for libel in the British courts, even though he fears that if he leaves France he could be extradited to the US.

Asked about charges he may face in the US, the Polish director told the court today: "As far as those events are concerned, I would not even start to justify myself. What I did was wrong and I don’t see why I should go back to this for the purposes of this trial."

Mr Polanski has lived in France since 1978 and is married to the French actress Emmanuelle Seigner.

Mia Farrow, the actor who starred in Mr Polanski’s stylish Oscar-winning film Rosemary’s Baby, is set to give evidence on his behalf during the jury case before Mr Justice Eady. The case, which is expected to last five to seven days, continues.

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