- Josef Fritzl, who imprisoned his daughter for 24 years and committed heinous crimes against her, has been ruled by an Austrian court to be moved from psychiatric detention to a regular prison.
- Fritzl, now 88, will undergo regular psychotherapy and psychiatric evaluations during a 10-year probation period in prison.
- While the request for release was rejected, this decision is seen as a victory for Fritzl’s legal team as conditions in a regular prison are considered better than a psychiatric institution.
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An Austrian court has ruled that Josef Fritzl, who imprisoned his daughter for 24 years and raped her thousands of times, can be moved from psychiatric detention to a regular prison. The decision requires Fritzl, now 88, to undergo regular psychotherapy and psychiatric evaluations during a 10-year probation period in prison. While his request for release was rejected, the decision is seen as a victory for his legal team since conditions in a regular prison are considered preferable to a psychiatric institution.
Fritzl’s horrifying crimes were exposed in 2008, and he was subsequently sentenced in 2009 to life imprisonment for incest, rape, coercion, false imprisonment, enslavement, and the negligent homicide of one of his infant sons. In 1984, Fritzl locked his 18-year-old daughter in a sound-proofed basement in the town of Amstetten, Austria. Over the following 24 years, he repeatedly raped her and fathered seven children with her, one of whom died. Austrian authorities claim that Fritzl’s wife was unaware of the basement and its atrocities.
The case gained international attention when Fritzl’s daughter emerged from the basement in 2008. Now suffering from dementia, Fritzl appealed to be transferred to a regular prison based on a psychiatric assessment that determined he no longer posed a danger. The regional court in Krems agreed with this assessment and overturned a previous decision rejecting Fritzl’s request in 2022.
Fritzl’s lawyer, Astrid Wagner, stated that he expressed deep remorse and wished he could undo his actions during the hearing. The verdict is not yet legally binding, and prosecutors have 14 days to appeal the decision.