Screenwriter, producer and director of movie and tv Paul Haggis, pictured in 2017, has been arrested in Italy on sexual assault fees.
Andres Iglesias Rodriguez/Getty Photos
cover caption
toggle caption
Andres Iglesias Rodriguez/Getty Photos
Screenwriter, producer and director of movie and tv Paul Haggis, pictured in 2017, has been arrested in Italy on sexual assault fees.
Andres Iglesias Rodriguez/Getty Photos
Oscar-winning movie director and screenwriter Paul Haggis is being detained in Italy on sexual assault and aggravated private harm fees.
Italian police arrested Haggis on Sunday for allegedly raping a girl in Ostuni, in southern Italy, over a interval of two days.
The girl was present in a neighborhood airport, allegedly left by Haggis within the morning regardless of her “precarious bodily and psychological circumstances,” in response to prosecutors Antonio Negro and Livia Orlando. Airport employees alerted the police and took her to a hospital, La Presse and different Italian media shops reported.
Prosecutors haven’t but disclosed her nationality or age.
Haggis’ lawyer denied the accusations. “Below Italian Regulation, I can’t focus on the proof. That mentioned, I’m assured that each one allegations will likely be dismissed in opposition to Mr. Haggis. He’s completely harmless, and keen to completely cooperate with the authorities so the reality comes out rapidly,” lawyer Priya Chaudhry advised NPR in an e-mail.
Haggis has been in Italy to show grasp courses at an upcoming movie competition that commences on Tuesday. In a press release, the administrators of the Allora Fest mentioned the information was stunning and expressed solidarity with the lady concerned. In addition they mentioned they instantly eliminated Haggis from collaborating within the occasion.
The 69-year-old Canadian director gained Oscar awards for writing the 2005 Finest Image winner Million Greenback Child and directing the next 12 months’s greatest image winner Crash.
This is not the primary time Haggis has been implicated in a sexual assault case. In 2018, Haggis was sued by a publicist who accused him of assaulting her after a movie premiere. Throughout the civil trial, which has been delayed due to COVID, three different girls got here ahead accusing Haggis of sexual misconduct. Haggis has denied the claims.
