Lhe Canadian director and producer Paul Haggis was arrested in southern Italy on suspicion of “aggravated” sexual assault against a young foreign woman, Italian news agencies announced on Sunday June 19, citing the floor. The director and screenwriter is “seriously suspected of crimes of sexual assault and aggravated bodily harm, crimes committed against a young foreign woman”, indicated the Ansa and AGI agencies, quoting the Brindisi prosecutor.
Paul Haggis has denied these allegations. “Investigate as soon as possible, I am completely innocent,” he said through his Italian lawyer, Michele Laforgia, according to the agencies. Neither the prosecutor’s office nor the film producer’s lawyer were available on Sunday to respond to requests for additional information from Agence France-Presse. Paul Haggis, 69, who wrote and directed the film Crash (Collision) which won him several Oscars, was due to star at the Allora Fest film festival which will start on Tuesday in the town of Ostuni, in the province of Brindisi.
The young woman alleged victim had been with Mr. Haggis before the festival, according to the prosecution. “The suspect allegedly forced the young woman, whom he met some time before, to have sex,” the prosecutor said. Following one of these reports, the young woman “was forced to seek medical care”, adds the same source.
