The 62-year-old was conditionally released from the Graz-Karlau prison after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
Vienna/Graz. Two-time Olympic judo champion Peter Seisenbacher, who was sentenced to almost five years in prison for serious sexual abuse of minors and abuse of a relationship of authority, is free again. The 62-year-old was conditionally released from the Graz-Karlau prison on Friday after serving two-thirds of his sentence. This was confirmed by his defense attorney Bernhard Lehofer of the APA.
“He has just been released,” said Lehofer on the phone late Friday morning, after he had just picked up Seisenbacher from prison. There will be no photos of or interviews with Seisenbacher: “He will not comment anymore. He said everything he said in court. There is nothing more to say about it.” Media inquiries or calls to Seisenbacher would therefore be of no use, his legal representative assured: “There will be no further statements from our side.”
The spokeswoman for the regional court in Graz, Barbara Schwarz, had previously announced the conditional release of Seisenbacher. A psychological expert had no objections in his prognosis assessment, Schwarz told APA. The public prosecutor’s office in Graz agreed to the conditional release.
Two-thirds of his sentence served
Seisenbacher’s release from custody is no surprise, as 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. This was also emphasized by Seisenbacher’s lawyer. “In truth, the court only did what the law stipulated. That would have happened in any other case,” Lehofer said.
A 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 orders. According to court spokeswoman Schwarz, there were also such cases at Seisenbacher. What was specifically imposed on the ex-judoka, his legal representative did not want to explain in a conversation with the APA. Seisenbacher has no interest in a public discussion in this regard, said Lehofer.
According to the law, a conditional release can be revoked if conditions are violated or a criminal offense is committed again. Then it would go back to prison to serve out the remainder of the sentence – which, according to the opinion of the psychologist consulted by the judiciary, cannot be assumed at Seisenbacher.
Seisenbacher served his sentence in Graz-Karlau correctional institution
In December 2019, Seisenbacher was found guilty on all charges of child abuse by the Vienna Regional Criminal Court and sentenced to five years in prison. The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Vienna later reduced the sentence by two months. Seisenbacher then served his sentence in the Graz-Karlau correctional institution, which means that the Graz Regional Court, as the competent prison court, had to decide on the conditional release.
Not only the judo scene, but also large parts of the public reacted incredulously when it became known at the time that the Vienna public prosecutor’s office had started investigations into Seisenbacher in 2013 for the sexual abuse of minors. 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.
