An Austrian man sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping and raping his adult daughter in his basement for 24 years and fathering seven children with her has reportedly taken steps toward early release after 15 years behind bars.
“[Il] has the right to be treated with “human dignity”. [ce qui n’est] “This is only possible in a retirement home and not in a prison,” Astrid Wagner, Josef Fritzl’s lawyer, told Austrian broadcaster ORF on Monday, according to Sky News.
The 88-year-old was being held in a high-security unit for criminals with mental disorders and had begun the process of being transferred to a prison from where he could then attempt to secure his conditional release, an official confirmed on Tuesday. Manager at Portal.
Under Austrian law, anyone sentenced to life imprisonment can be paroled after 15 years.
The octogenarian received the severe sentence in 2008 after he was found guilty of rape, incest and false imprisonment for locking his adult daughter Elisabeth Fritzl in his basement for 24 years and fathering seven children with her.
He was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, although one of the babies did not survive.
But according to his lawyer, the man who suffered “distortions of reality” without being “severely insane” would have shown “honest, sincere and heartfelt remorse” for “destroying the beautiful life he had by living his had done something to his family.” “she reportedly continued to Austrian media.
In 2023, he also suggested in an interview that he believed his family would “forgive” him for his crimes and that they would be “reunited,” Sky News added.