Josef Fritzl: the secrets of the cellar
How much are we entitled to know about what went on in that cellar?
Much of Fritzl's trial this week is being held without public or press
allowed in -- to protect the privacy of the children involved in the
case.
Even so, before the trial started, there was plenty of coverage of the
allegations against him -- that over a period of 24 years, he kept his
daughter imprisoned in a cellar of his home, repeatedly raped her, and
fathered seven children with her, one of whom he allowed to die shortly
after birth, and three of whom were held prisoner underground with their
mother.
Compare the way Austria is handling the case with the way the British
courts handled a similar case late last year, when a man was convicted
of repeatedly raping two daughters and fathering seven children with
them. In that case, neither his identity, nor that of his daughters,
could be published -- and there was far less coverage of the case.
Where does the balance lie? Does justice always need to be seen to be
done, or do the interests of those who are victims of abuse always take
priority? You can hear me discussing the issues here, with the Austrian
journalist Florian Klenk and the British lawyer Pia Sarma.
(broadcast on Newshour, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ World Service, 17 March 2009)
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