Crime story about Seisenbacher with reference to Ukraine
Not only the judo scene, but also large parts of the public reacted in disbelief when it became known at the time that the Vienna public prosecutor’s office had started investigations into Seisenbacher for sexual abuse of minors in 2013. 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 there were acts of abuse that are no longer allowed to be reported on, since they are criminal acts that have been abolished by a court. Those affected were two girls who were still minors at the time when the crime was committed.
Seisenbacher had tried to avoid the criminal proceedings against him by fleeing to Ukraine at the end of 2016. He was arrested in August 2017 in an apartment in Kyiv. He was only extradited in September 2019 and handed over to the Vienna judiciary, where he was taken into custody. Seisenbacher’s time spent in prison in Ukraine and in custody in Vienna counted towards his five-year prison sentence.
