ROME –
Director Paul Haggis was detained on Sunday to investigate allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in southern Italy, Italian media reported, citing local prosecutors.
Canadian-born 69-year-old Oscar-winning Haggis is in Italy for a film festival that begins on Tuesday in Ostuni, a tourist town in Puglia, the region that forms the “heel” of the Italian peninsula.
The LaPresse news agency and several other Italian media outlets reported in writing to prosecutors in the nearby town of Brindisi that they were investigating allegations that a “young foreign woman” had been forced to have sex “without consent” for two days.
Haggis’ lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, said that although he could not discuss the evidence under Italian law, “I am confident that all charges against Mr Haggis will be dropped. He is completely innocent and wants to cooperate fully with the authorities, so the truth comes out quickly. “
Prosecutors Antonio Negro and Livia Orlando, who are conducting the investigation, said in a statement that the woman was “forced to seek medical help” after having sex. After several days of “relationship without consent, the woman was accompanied by the man” to Brindisi Airport on Sunday and “was left there at dawn despite (her) precarious physical and psychological conditions”.
The Brindisi prosecutor’s office was closed on Sunday.
Prosecutors said airport officials and police noticed her “apparently confused condition” and, after receiving initial treatment, took her to Brindisi Police Headquarters, where officers escorted her to a local hospital for examination.
Police in the operating room of the headquarters said they were not authorized to provide information about the case, including whether Haggis was detained at the police station or at a hotel or other accommodation.
Haggis is a director, producer and screenwriter. He won an Oscar in 2006 for Best Original Screenplay for “Crash.”
Prosecutors were also quoted as saying that the woman “formalized her complaint and cited circumstances that were subsequently considered for confirmation by investigators.” They do not cite her nationality or age.
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