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Oscar-winning Canadian screenwriter and director Paul Haggis is under house arrest in southern Italy on charges of sexual assault and aggravated bodily harm, allegations Haggis denies, his lawyers said Monday.
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“Mr Paul Haggis was detained on Sunday by an emergency measure issued by Brindisi prosecutors and is now under house arrest in Ostuni. He will be questioned by a judge by Thursday, who will have to decide whether to confirm the detention or not, his Italian lawyer Michele Laforgia told Reuters.
Haggis was accused of forcing a young non-Italian woman to have sex against her will for two days in Ostuni, Italy, a Brindisi prosecutor said in a statement Sunday.
“Under Italian law, I cannot discuss the evidence. However, I am convinced that all charges against Mr Haggis will be dropped, “Haggis’ personal lawyer Priya Chaudhry said in a statement.
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Both lawyers said Haggis pleaded not guilty and would cooperate with authorities.
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“A young foreign woman was forced to seek medical help after sexual intercourse,” the prosecutor said in a statement.
They said that on Sunday after the relationship without consent, the man accompanied the woman to Brindisi airport, where she was left despite her “precarious physical and psychological condition”.
A source in the investigation told Reuters that the unidentified young woman would be questioned over the next 10 days in what is known in Italy as an evidentiary incident, presenting evidence of a possible future trial.
The 69-year-old Haggis is the screenwriter of “Baby for Millions of Dollars” and co-wrote and directed “Oscar-winning” Crash.
In 2018, he denied allegations of sexual assault by four women, including two who accused him of rape.
Haggis was in Ostuni to host several master classes at Allora Fest, a new film event launched by Los Angeles-based Italian journalist Sylvia Bizio and Spanish art critic Sol Costales Dulton from June 21-26.
Allora Fest said they “learned with horror and shock about the news”, adding that the festival’s directors “immediately removed any involvement of the director from the event”.
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