Oscar-winning Canadian screenwriter and director Paul Haggis has been arrested in Ostuni, Southern Italy on fees of sexual assault and aggravated private harm allegedly inflicted upon a nonetheless unidentified girl who has pressed fees.
In accordance with a number of Italian press studies and a observe from the general public prosecutor of the close by metropolis of Brindisi, Haggis is charged with forcing a younger “overseas” – that means non-Italian – girl to bear sexual activity over the course of two days in Ostuni, whereas he was scheduled to carry a number of grasp courses on the Allora Fest, a brand new movie occasion being launched by Los Angeles-based Italian journalist Silvia Bizio and Spanish artwork critic Sol Costales Doulton that’s set to run in Ostuni from June 21 to June 26.
Bizio has confirmed to Selection that Haggis is below arrest.
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“Beneath Italian Legislation, I can’t talk about the proof,” Haggis’ longtime private legal professional Priya Chaudhry stated in an announcement.
“That stated, I’m assured that each one allegations will probably be dismissed in opposition to Mr. Haggis. He’s completely harmless and keen to completely cooperate with the authorities so the reality comes out shortly.”
In an announcement, The Allora Fest stated they’ve “discovered with dismay and shock the information that Paul Haggis is in custody for alleged violence.”
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The competition’s administrators “instantly proceeded to take away any participation of the director from the occasion” and “on the similar time, they specific full solidarity with the lady concerned.”
“The themes chosen for the competition are, amongst others, these of equality, gender equality, and solidarity. As professionals and girls they’re dismayed and hope that the competition will assist foster extra data and consciousness on such a topical and more and more urgent situation,” the assertion went on to notice.
In accordance with an Italian police report, the alleged sufferer, after being assaulted, was taken by Haggis to the Papola Casale airport in Brindisi and left there on Sunday morning on the morning time, regardless of her “precarious bodily and psychological situations.”
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On the airport, the alleged rape sufferer, who was in a “confused state” was assisted by the airport workers and border police who, after having given her first assist, accompanied her to the workplaces of the Italian squadra cell police unit.
Police brokers then took the lady to the A. Perrino hospital in Brindisi, the place Italy’s so-called “pink protocol” for rape victims was put in force.
Subsequently, the alleged sufferer filed formal fees in opposition to Haggis.
Haggis, who wrote Million Greenback Child and co-wrote and directed Crash, each of which he gained an Oscar for, was sued in 2018 by publicist Haleigh Breest, who alleged that he had violently raped her after a premiere in 2013.
The swimsuit prompted three extra girls to return ahead with their very own sexual misconduct accusations in opposition to Haggis, who has vehemently denied the claims. The trial continues to be pending, on account of COVID-19 delays.
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