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German teen victim of ‘South African Fritzl’

A man is being called the Josef Fritzl of South Africa after he allegedly made his visiting 18-year-old German daughter his sex slave for two months, a South African newspaper reported.

Published: 6 July 2009 10:58 CEST

German teen victim of 'South African Fritzl'

Muizenberg, South Africa, where the teen was held captive. Photo: Dewet

The case is reminiscent of Austrian Josef Fritzl, who held his daughter captive in a basement prison for 24 years, while fathering four children with her, including one who died in infancy.

The German girl, who lived in Heidelberg, tracked down her biological father on the internet and made contact with him. She flew to South Africa in February, where her nightmare began.

According to the South African daily Rapport, the girl was held in her father’s home in Muizenberg, just south of Cape Town.

For two months, the man allegedly raped her as often as three times a night. He also threatened her with a knife and would use it to cut off her clothes when she wouldn’t cooperate with him.

The teen escaped when she and her father went for an overnight visit with friends. She wrote a letter to the couple, explaining her plight. The father became violent and threatened the couple when they told him he wouldn’t be allowed to see her again, the newspaper reported.

Now facing charges of incest including rape and assault, the 53-year-old was released on a R1,000 (€90) bail. According to local police, he will appear in court again on August 7.

The girl is now in protective custody with her brother, who flew from Heidelberg in Baden Württemberg to be with her after she was rescued from her father.

Police are withholding names for legal reasons.

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Germany, Czech Republic accuse Russia of cyberattacks

The accusations come at a time of strained relations between Moscow and the West following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the European Union’s support for Kyiv.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said a newly concluded government investigation found that a cyberattack targeting members of the Social Democratic Party had been carried out by a group known as APT28.

APT28 “is steered by the military intelligence service of Russia”, Baerbock told reporters during a visit to Australia.

“In other words, it was a state-sponsored Russian cyberattack on Germany and this is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable and will have consequences.”

APT28, also known as Fancy Bear, has been accused of dozens of cyberattacks in countries around the world. Russia denies being behind such actions.

The hacking attack on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD party was made public last year. Hackers exploited a previously unknown vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook to compromise e-mail accounts, according to Berlin.

Berlin on Friday summoned the acting charge d’affaires of the Russian embassy over the incident.

The Russian embassy in Germany said its envoy “categorically rejected the accusations that Russian state structures were involved in the given incident… as unsubstantiated and groundless”.

Arms, aerospace targeted: Berlin

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the cyber campaign was orchestrated by Russia’s military intelligence service GRU and began in 2022. It also targeted German companies in the armaments and aerospace sectors, she said.

Such cyberattacks are “a threat to our democracy, national security and our free societies”, she told a joint news conference in Prague with her Czech counterpart Vit Rakusan.

“We are calling on Russia again to stop these activities,” Faeser added.

Czech government officials said some of its state institutions had also been the target of cyberattacks blamed on APT28, again by exploiting a weakness in Microsoft Outlook in 2023.

Czech Interior Minister Rakusan said his country’s infrastructure had recently experienced “higher dozens” of such attacks.

“The Czech Republic is a target. In the long term, it has been perceived by the Russian Federation as an enemy state,” he told reporters.

EU, NATO condemnation

The German and Czech findings triggered strong condemnation from the European Union.

“The malicious cyber campaign shows Russia’s continuous pattern of irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace, by targeting democratic institutions, government entities and critical infrastructure providers across the European Union and beyond,” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said.

The EU would “make use of the full spectrum of measures to prevent, deter and respond to Russia’s malicious behaviour in cyberspace”, he added.

State institutions, agencies and entities in other member states including in Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden had been targeted by APT28 in the past, the statement added.

The latest accusations come a day after NATO expressed “deep concern” over Russia’s “hybrid actions” including disinformation, sabotage and cyber interference.

The row also comes as millions of Europeans prepare to go to the polls for the European Parliament elections in June, and concerns about foreign meddling are running high.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told AFP that “pointing a finger publicly at a specific attacker is an important tool to protect national interests”.

One of the most high-profile incidents so far blamed on Fancy Bear was a cyberattack in 2015 that paralysed the computer network of the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. It forced the entire institution offline for days while it was fixed.

In 2020, the EU imposed sanctions on individuals and entities linked to the APT28 group over the incident.

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