OSTUNI – Canadian director, Paul Haggis must remain under house arrest at a hotel near Brindisi where he has been in custody since Sunday, when he was arrested on charges of repeated sexual assault and aggravated personal injury against a 28-year-old British woman.

 The Oscar-winning director was staying at the B&B in Ostuni to attend the Allora film festival where he was due to give a masterclass.

 Judge Vilma Gilli ruled that Haggis must remain in the hotel while sexual assault investigations continue after a three-hour preliminary hearing with Haggis and his lawyer, Michele Laforgia on Wednesday morning. 

 The unnamed aspiring film consultant was found in a state of confusion and shock at Brindisi airport on June 15 and testified to officers that from June 12, for three consecutive days, she was subjected to non-consensual sex by the 70-year-old film director. 

 Following the hearing, Laforgia told journalists that Haggis had declared his “complete innocence” and maintained that any sexual relations with the woman had been consensual. 

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