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Austria Now News – Austria
The competent court in Austria has rejected the third application for conditional release filed by Josef Fritzl, who was convicted in the notorious Amstetten case, meaning he will remain in prison, the newspaper oe24 reported on Monday evening.
No care environment outside prison
The court based its decision mainly on the absence of any social structure to receive him if released, finding that an orderly life outside prison is not possible under current circumstances. According to the newspaper, there is no one outside prison willing or able to take him in and care for him, and there is no longer any contact or support from his relatives.
The authorities believe he receives adequate medical and nursing care in the medical unit of Stein prison in Krems, Lower Austria. According to the court, these organisational and social obstacles outweigh any other consideration, despite the change in his health.
Defence relies on medical report
His lawyer Astrid Wagner based her application on a report by forensic psychiatrist Heidi Kastner, which concluded that he suffers from dementia and no longer poses an acute danger. Wagner has faced widespread public criticism for defending him and has even received death threats, but she has stood by her position.
Despite the third rejection, the lawyer announced that she intends to file a new application for conditional release in 2027.
One of the most serious cases in Austrian legal history
Fritzl held his daughter captive for more than 24 years in a specially prepared cellar in Amstetten. He is the only person in Austria to have been finally convicted of slavery, alongside other charges including murder by omission, rape and deprivation of liberty.
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Sources
- oe24 – «Keine Entlassung: Josef Fritzl bleibt in Haft» – 02.11.2026 – https://www.oe24.at/a/keine-entlassung-josef-fritzl-bleibt-in-haft-900129520
