June 20 (Reuters) – Oscar-winning screenwriter Paul Haggis is under house arrest in southern Italy on charges of sexual assault and aggravated personal injury, allegations the Canadian director denies, his lawyers said on Monday.
“Mr Paul Haggis was arrested on Sunday with an emergency measure issued by Brindisi prosecutors and is now under house arrest in Ostuni. He will be questioned on Thursday by a judge who will have to decide whether or not to confirm the arrest,” he said. . Italian lawyer Michele Laforgia told Reuters.
Haggis was accused of forcing a woman to have sex for two days in Ostuni, Italy, Brindisi prosecutors said in a statement on Sunday.
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“Under Italian law, I cannot discuss the evidence. That said, I am confident that all allegations against Mr Haggis will be dismissed,” Haggis’ personal lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, said in a statement.
Both lawyers said Haggis pleaded not guilty and would cooperate with authorities.
“A young foreigner was forced to seek medical attention” after sex, prosecutors said in a statement.
They said that on Sunday after the alleged assault, the suspect accompanied the woman to Brindisi airport, where she was abandoned despite her “precarious physical and psychological condition”. Prosecutors did not name Haggis and referred to the suspect with his initials.
A source in the investigation told Reuters that the unidentified woman will be questioned in the next 10 days in what is known in Italy as an evidentiary incident, which sets evidence for a possible future trial.
Haggis, 69, wrote “Million Dollar Baby” and co-wrote and directed the crime drama “Crash.” He won two Oscars for “Crash”: one for “Best Picture” and one for “Best Original Screenplay”.
In 2018 he denied allegations of sexual misconduct by four women, including two who accused him of rape.
Haggis went to Ostuni to give several classes at Allora Fest, a new film event launched by Italian journalist Silvia Bizio and Spanish art critic Sol Costales Doulton to be held June 21-26.
The Allora Fest said it was “shocked and shocked to learn of the news”, adding that the festival directors “immediately proceeded to withdraw any participation from the director of the event”.
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Report by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Emilio Parodi in Milan; Additional report by Francesca Landini in Milan; Editing by Toby Chopra, Angus MacSwan and Lisa Shumaker
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