The Dark Side of Austrian Culture: a Fritzl Case

Stefanie Marsh of the Times London reports from Vienna that the Yosef Fritzl incest case (raped his daughter for years) could have been stopped had Austrian system been transparent:

The Kampusch story was regarded in Austria as unique. Less than two years later it emerged that Josef Fritzl had been keeping his daughter in a cellar. Far from examining the similarities, the authorities exaggerated the differences — “two one-offs”.

The real scandal is that not only was Fritzl’s crime preventable but also that it could have been stopped many times. The Austrian Government is quick to cite privacy but I suspect that the contents of its official files would give Elisabeth Fritzl far too many grounds to sue the State.