Remind me never to move to Austria

[BigDaddy44]

I've never been what you would call a "law and order" guy. Death penalty? Barbaric. Drug users in jail? We should be treating them instead. Mandatory sentencing laws? Cop outs that don't take mitigating circumstances into consideration. Three strikes and your out? Same thing.

Given all that.... remind me never to move to Austria. Remember that wonderful dad who kept his daughter chained in a dungeon for over 20 years and fathered multiple children with her? He's facing 15 years. Max. And thats only if he gets convicted of double murder. Yep, the MAXIMUM sentence for double murder in Austria is 15 years? Yep. 15 years. 10 if he behaves himself while in jail. AND, he may get off for insanity. Read the disgusting details for yourself.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=563912&in_page_id=1770

[yourout]

1. Never move to Austria.

I couldn't resist.

[2rth2pwr]

2. Just a reminder

If you ever think of moving, don't go to Austria.

[Johnyawl]

3. You might want to move to Austria...

...if you're contemplating a double murder.

[Crunchy Frog]

4. Maybe somebody could bump him off.

It's not like they'd be facing a very long sentence. :shrug:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Relatively short sentences are the norm in most of the Western world

and those countries have lower crime rates than we do, despite the occasional horror story like this one.

[Berry Cool]

6. I don't care what crime rates they have.

This is just one of those "there are no words" stories.

It just beggars belief.

I find it difficult to think of a punishment that would really be fit for a crime like this.

[izquierdista]

7. Because it wasn't a crime

It was a mental illness.

And you believe that punishment cures mental illness, I'm sure you have NO difficulty in thinking of things that civilized people have outlawed a long time ago.

[Berry Cool]

18. Nice to see you can diagnose the man long distance like that.

And no, I don't believe punishment cures mental illness. I'd just like to know what one is supposed to do when one finds a situation like this. What kind of justice is there for the people to whom this was done?

You presume a great deal when you presume I "have NO difficulty in thinking of things that civilized people have outlawed a long time ago." Way to go and turn on ME, and make ME sound like a barbarian, just because I look at a situation like this and am at a loss as to what should be done.

If I were really a barbarian bloodthirsty for uncivilized punishment, I'd be making you a list of the things that should be done. But I can't, because I really don't know. THAT was my point.

[izquierdista]

20. Yes, great diagnostic powers

I can also just look at a picture of an African child with a swollen belly and tell that he has suffered malnutrition.

Sometimes there is no "justice" for the victims. No "justice" to compensate the African child for his hunger and no "justice" for the Austrian woman locked in the basement.

[depakid]

8. Americans reading tabloids-

(or right wing media- take your pick) will usually get their facts wrong- and have their emotions manipulated.

Quite aside from the fact that even 15 years is likely a life sentence for this 73 year old, Austria criminal law DOES HAVE LIFE SENTENCES FOR MURDER, as you will find by reading credible sources.

"Public horror and outrage at the Fritzl case has triggered widespread debate over whether Austria's sentencing for sex crimes is too lenient.

The revelations have triggered calls for tougher sentences for rapists and paedophiles. And there have also been widespread demands for sex convictions to be held on a person's criminal record for much longer.

Justice Minister Maria Berger, a Social Democrat, insists that current sentencing -- "of up to 15 or 20 years, or life if the victim dies" -- was draconian enough.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hXlBWVrSigLrGBYZSIrcgBFQSzrA

[AlCzervik]

9. Thank you for correcting the record.

:thumbsup:

[Kitty Herder]

19. Hey, that's what I was going to post.

:( (pouts)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. I'd much, much, much, MUCH rather live in Austria than in the USA.

I've been to both.

Edit: reading posts like yours just intensifies my opinion. Not only Western European countries are great places to live, but bloodthirsty punishophiles are REPELLED by them! How better can it get?

[supernova]

11. Austria purges records after 15 years

This is a direct reaction to the Nazi's meticulous and secretive recordkeeping on everybody. So, I wouldnt' be too hard on them about that.

Also there's been some speculation that his mental state could have been the result of witnessing something awful during the war. That doesn't lessen the tragedy in his family, just that it's all twisted up in mental illness.

[Monk06]

12. Basement Suite available.

Quite neighborhood in Amstetten. Secure private
entrance, children welcome, no pets. Reasonable
terms. Reduced rent in exchange for long term
lease. Handyman skills a plus. Renter looking
for dependable, discreet single mother.

[pitohui]

13. can i go to austria in your place?

i guess i don't get it, that's your only quibble with austria is you think this guy will get off in 15 years (i suspect he'll be in a nuthouse forever), but you're willing to live in america where we find with dna all kinds of innocence people sitting on death row all the time?

i'll take my chances over there if they'll have me, thankya verra much

[Adsos Letter]

14. Well I don't wanna' move to Austria...

who wants to take a chance on waking up to find Julie Andrews twirling across their lawn singing that noxious "Sound of Music...?"

:hide:

[eShirl]

15. The hills are alive!

with the sound of music...

(one of my favorite Statler & Waldorf moments from The Muppet Show)

[Adsos Letter]

17. Love the muppets!

"...pigs in space..." :rofl:

[JDPriestly]

16. I lived in Austria for quite a few years. There wasn't much crime really.

Not compared to here. Maybe the low sentences work. I suppose that it isn't just a matter of how long a sentence is, but what happens to people while they are in prison.

This Fritzl fellow is a habitual sex offender. He belongs in an institution for the criminally insane.

And, by the way, surprise! Amstetten was known for its NAZI sympathizers. I was reading a novel about WWhat II when the story about Herr Fritzl first broke. And the author told the story that the train full of escaping Jews that his protagonist took through Austria in 1938 was met by crowds throwing rocks in Amstetten. I had to laugh. I happen to know that is true. It does not surprise me that Fritzl was known to his family to be "authoritarian."

[Tesha]

21. If you ever think of moving to Austria, just listen to "The Lonely Goatherd" until...

the thought has been driven from your brain.

Here, let me help:

"High on a hill stood a lonely goatherd
'Lady-o-da-lady-o-da-lady-oooooo'"...

Tesha

[mainegreen]

22. The fact that he might not spend the rest of his life in a small box bothers me.

Mentally ill. No shit he's mentally ill. Doesn't mean he didn't know what he was doing. Lets not jump off the logical cliff of all mentally illness provides an "I didn't know better" defense.
This guy was sick, but he knew what he was doing.

[leftynyc]

23. He knew what he was doing was WRONG

or he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to keep it hidden. I think that's the only criteria for an insanity defense (here in the US - have no idea about the EU).

What I want to do to this animal is not legal anywhere.