Peter Seisenbacher is free again. The ex-judoka was sentenced to almost five years in prison in 2019 for sexually abusing minors.
Peter Seisenbacher was conditionally released from the Graz-Karlau prison on Friday, having served two-thirds of his sentence. At the end of 2019, the ex-judoka was sentenced to almost five years in prison for serious sexual abuse of minors.
Two-thirds of the sentence served
Austrian criminal law stipulates that a prisoner should be released early after two-thirds of the sentence imposed on him at the latest, unless there are so-called special reasons that give reason to fear that he will commit another crime.
The conditional release is linked to a probationary period of one to three years, during which the person concerned must behave well and follow any court instructions, reports the APA. If he violates conditions or even appears criminally again, the conditional release can be revoked – then he goes back to prison.
Seisenbacher went into hiding in Ukraine
In 2013, the Vienna public prosecutor began investigating Seisenbacher for the sexual abuse of minors. Charges were brought against him in October 2016. The double Olympic champion dropped a scheduled court date at the Vienna Criminal Court, whereupon the court immediately issued a European arrest warrant.
On August 1, 2017, Seisenbacher was arrested in an apartment in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. However, the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice refused his extradition but ordered him to leave Ukraine within five days.
Seisenbacher went into hiding in the Ukraine. It was not until September 2019 that he was arrested when crossing the border with a forged passport. At the end of 2019, the trial finally took place, where he was sentenced to five years in prison for the sexual abuse of minors. In June 2020, the Vienna Higher Regional Court reduced Peter Seisenbacher’s five-year prison sentence by two months to four years and ten months due to the standstill in the proceedings.
The 1984 Olympic champion in Los Angeles, who successfully defended his title four years later in Seoul, remained an idol for many after the end of his active career. In 1996 he was awarded the Golden Decoration of Honor for services to the Republic of Austria. He founded his own judo club in Vienna, where abuse occurred. Those affected were two girls who were still minors at the time when the crime was committed.
