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Peter Seisenbacher denied the facts of which he was accused. Here at his trial in Vienna on 2 December 2019. REUTERS / Leonhard Foeger

After a long run, the former two-time Austrian Olympic judo champion Peter Seisenbacher was sentenced on Monday, December 2, to five years in prison by the Vienna court for sexual abuse of minors he was training.

With our correspondent in Vienna, Isaure Hiace

Peter Seisenbacher did not show up at his trial in December 2016 and was then the subject of an international arrest warrant. He was finally arrested last September while trying, with false documents, to leave Ukraine, where he had fled.

Delivered to Austria, he was able to be tried in Vienna where he was sentenced Monday, December 2 in first instance to five years in prison for sexual abuse of minors, one of whom was 9 years old at the time of facts, another 13 years old. A third complainant also brought to the attention of the court an attempted sexual assault when she was 16 years old.

Peter Seisenbacher, who ended his sports career in 1988, was their coach between the late 1990s and early 2000s. Denying the facts at the trial, he accused the plaintiffs of lying, which did not convince the judge. " We did not get the impression that the complainants were wrong, that they were lying or plotting, " he said. Both parties to the lawsuit may appeal the judgment.