Elisabeth Fritzl questioned

2008-07-11 14:05

Vienna - Austrian incest victim Elisabeth Fritzl has had a first hearing with a judge and was expected to be questioned further next week, the Austrian news agency APA said Friday, citing court sources.

Her children could also be called in for interviews later, the daily Kurier quoted prosecution spokesperson Gerhard Sedlacek as saying, adding that the sessions were being taped to spare the family from having to appear in court at a later date.

Elisabeth Fritzl, now 42, was held captive in the cellar of her parents' building for 24 years, during which she was sexually abused by her father Josef Fritzl, bearing seven children by him.

Kurier also reported on Friday that one of the girls born in the cellar had been able to take part this weekend in a four-day camp with her local youth fire brigade.

The 15-year-old, who was raised by Josef Fritzl, 73, and his wife Rosemarie, had wanted to take part in the youth camp with some 4 000 other children.

Her name was changed to hide her participation in the camp but there were no problems, local fire chief Armin Blutsch told the paper.

Initially, Elisabeth and her six children were hardly allowed outdoors at the Amstetten-Mauer clinic where they have been staying since late April, as paparazzi camped outside, hoping to get a first picture of the family.

But clinic staff at the clinic said the family was now able to enjoy outside activities and small excursions.

The shocking incest case in Amstetten, some 100km west of Vienna, came to light in mid-April after Elisabeth Fritzl's 19-year-old daughter was admitted to hospital in an unconscious state, later suffering multiple organ failure.

Three of Eilsabeth's children were brought upstairs to live with their "grandparents", while three other children spent their entire lives underground, never seeing sunlight. A seventh child died shortly after birth.

- AFP