実娘２４年監禁事件、受刑者を一般刑務所に移送へ オーストリア

【レムスアンデアドナウ（オーストリア）ＡＦＰ＝時事】オーストリアの裁判所は２５日、地下室に２４年以上監禁していた娘との間に７人の子どもをもうけ、近親相姦やレイプの罪などで服役中のヨーゼフ・フリッツル受刑者に対し、厳重な警戒態勢が敷かれている特別施設から一般的な刑務所への移送を承認した。（写真はヨーゼフ・フリッツル受刑者）
　フリッツル受刑者は２００９年、娘のエリーザベトさんとの間に生まれた新生児を放置して死なせた過失致死罪で有罪となり終身刑を言い渡された。さらに、自宅に特別に設けた地下室にエリーザベトさんを監禁してレイプを繰り返していたことから、３０００件のレイプ、近親相姦、強制隔離、暴行などの罪でも有罪となった。
　現在はウィーンの北西約８０キロに位置するクレムスで、精神疾患があり、深刻な危害をもたらす恐れのある受刑者専用の施設で服役している。
　電気工だったフリッツル受刑者は１９８４年、当時１８歳のエリーザベトさんをアムシュテッテンにある自宅の地下室に監禁。周囲には、家出したと話し、２００８年までレイプを繰り返して７人の子どもを産ませた。うち１人は、生後間もなく死亡した。
　事件が発覚したのは、子どもの１人が病気になり、入院が必要になったことがきっかけだった。
　近隣住民や階上で暮らしていた妻と他の子どもたちは、フリッツル受刑者の二重生活はもちろん、階下の防音設備が施され、窓もない地下室で想像を絶する恐怖が繰り広げられていたことには全く気付かなかったという。
　エリーザベトさんと子どもたちは新しい身分を取得し、現在は非公開の場所で生活している。
　フリッツル受刑者の弁護士は、今回の裁判所の移送許可に同受刑者は「感激」していると明らかにした。一方で、体力が衰え、認知症も始まっているとして、来年、釈放を申請する予定だとしている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/01/29-16:16）

An Austrian court on Thursday approved the transfer of Josef Fritzl -- an incest rapist who fathered seven children with his daughter he locked in a cellar for over 24 years -- from a special security unit to a regular jail.
Fritzl, 88, was very moved by the court decision and was planning to apply for a full release next year, his lawyer Astrid Wagner said.
Fritzl was jailed for life in 2009 for the murder by neglect of a new-born baby he fathered with his daughter Elisabeth while holding her in the specially-built basement of his house.
He was also found guilty of incest, sequestration, grievous assault and 3,000 instances of rape.
Fritzl has been held in a jail for the mentally ill who pose a high degree of danger in Krems, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) northwest of Vienna.
The Krems regional court approved Fritzl's application to be moved to a regular jail -- the first step to eventually seeking a release, according to Wagner.
The court came to the conclusion that he is no longer dangerous based on a new psychiatric report, Wagner told reporters outside the court.
He is now to be transferred to a regular prison, but must undergo regular psychiatric examinations, she said, adding that Fritzl was very moved by the decision.
- 'First step' to release -
Calling Thursday's ruling an important first step, she said she planned to apply for Fritzl's release next year.
Wagner cited his frail health, an onset of dementia and said that he had already served the minimum 15 years in jail necessary for life-long convictions.
A court spokesman confirmed the verdict, which can still be appealed by prosecutors.
The court heard the case of Fritzl -- one of Austria's most notorious criminals, who has since changed his name -- behind closed doors, with a throng of media gathered outside the building.
Fritzl was brought to the court in a police van that entered a garage at the back and was led inside without being visible to the public.
A retired electrical engineer, Fritzl locked his daughter in the family's cellar in 1984, when she was 18 years old.
While claiming she had run away from home, Fritzl kept her in the basement in Amstetten, west of Vienna, until 2008, raping her repeatedly which resulted in the birth of seven children. One died aged just a few days.
The case came to light when one of the surviving children became ill and had to be hospitalised.
His neighbours and his wife Rosemarie and children living upstairs with him, said they had no inkling of Fritzl's double life and the unimaginable horrors that played out in the warren of windowless, soundproofed rooms beneath their home.
Elisabeth and her surviving children have taken on new identities and moved to an undisclosed location.
Wagner insisted Thursday that Fritzl was deeply remorseful for what he has done.
He thinks about what he did day and night, she said.