According to local police, Oscar-winning director and writer Paul Haggis was arrested on Sunday in the southern Italian city of Ostuni on suspicion of exacerbated sexual violence and personal injury.
The whistleblower was not Italian, according to a statement from the public prosecutor’s office in the nearby city of Brindisi, which ordered the arrest. The statement identifies a man arrested as a Canadian PH. Vincenzo Leo, a local Italian police officer, confirmed that it was Mr. Haggis.
After two days of “non-consensual sexual intercourse,” he took the woman to Brindisi’s Papola Casale airport on Friday, “despite the unstable physical and psychological state of the woman, dawn,” the statement said. I left her there with the first light of. “
The statement continued that airport staff and border guards noticed her being “confused” at the airport, helped her, and took her to a local police station. She was then taken to the hospital where she was treated. protocol Used for victims of violence against women in Italy. She then reported the violence to the police.
According to the accusation, 69-year-old Haggis “would have forced the young woman he had met before to endure sexual intercourse.”
“I am confident that all allegations against Mr. Haggis will be dismissed,” Haggis’ lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, said in an email. “He is completely innocent and willing to cooperate fully with the authorities, so his truth will soon be revealed.”
Haggis, who won an Academy Award for the crime drama “Crash” in 2006 and wrote acclaimed films such as “Million Dollar Baby,” will attend the Arora Film Festival in a southern city.According to the panel and discussions with the audience starting June 21st. Festival program..
Mr. Haggis was accused of sexual assault in New York 2017 According to spokeswoman Haley Brest. Brest accused Haggis of forcing oral sex after her 2013 premiere and before raping her. Mr. Haggis claimed that his encounter with Mr. Brest had reached an agreement.
Three other women have accused Mr. Haggis of sexual assault after a proceeding still pending due to a pandemic-related delay in the coronavirus. According to the Associated Press..
Haggis’ lawyer, Christine Repera, reportedly denied the other three accusations, saying “he didn’t rape anyone.”
Haggis started out as a television writer in the 1980s and helped create several series, including the long-standing drama “Walker, Texas Ranger,” starring Chuck Norris. But he is probably best known for his films, especially the 2005 ensemble drama “Crash,” which he directed and co-authored. The film won an Academy Award for Best Picture and the best original script by Haggis and Bobby Moresco.
In 2009, Mr. Haggis left the Church of Scientology in support of Proposal 8, a ban on same-sex marriage that was passed and later overturned by California voters.and Resignation Haggis, who spread it in Hollywood, writes that the position of the church is “a stain on the integrity of our organization and a stain on us personally.” In his documentary “Going Clear” and others, Mr. Haggis has become one of the more prominent critics of the church. And he said the church had launched a harassment campaign accordingly.
In a court filing last year, Mr. Haggis claimed that the sexual assault proceedings pending in New York essentially frozen his career and prevented him from working as a director or producer.
“I talked to producers and financiers, but they were repeatedly told that they couldn’t work with me until I revealed my name,” he set a court date in court. Written in the filing submitted as part of a motion requesting.
Stephanie Goodman contributed to the report.
