Rome: Film director Paul Haggis has been arrested in Italy for investigating allegations of sexually assaulting a woman, Italian media said, citing local prosecutors.
Oscar-winning Canadian Haggis, 69, has been in Italy for a film festival that begins Tuesday in Ostuni, a tourist town in Puglia, the region that forms the “heel” of the Italian peninsula.
Director Paul Haggis in 2017. He went to Italy to attend a film festival. Credit: Invision
LaPresse news agency and various Italian media published a written statement from prosecutors in the nearby city of Brindisi in which they were investigating allegations that a “young foreigner” was forced to have “non-consensual” sex for two days.
Prosecutors Antonio Negro and Livia Orlando, who are conducting the investigation, said in the statement that the woman was “forced to seek medical attention” after sexual intercourse. After a couple of days of “non-consensual intercourse, the woman was accompanied by the man” on Sunday at Brindisi airport and “stayed there in the morning despite the precarious physical and psychological conditions.”
Haggis is a director, producer and screenwriter. It won the Oscar in 2006 for Best Original Film and Screenplay for Crash.
In 2009, Haggis left the Church of Scientology after 35 years, becoming one of the organization’s most prominent deserters and critics.
The Brindisi prosecutor’s office was closed on Sunday. Haggis’ attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors said the airport staff and police noticed her “obvious state of confusion” and, after receiving initial treatment, took her to the Brindisi police station, where officers accompanied her. to a local hospital for examination.
Police in the headquarters operating room said she was not authorized to provide information about the case, including whether Haggis was detained at the police station or in a hotel or other accommodation.
Prosecutors also said the woman “formalized her complaint and cited circumstances that were later examined for confirmation by investigators.” They did not cite their nationality or age.
AP