Austrian rapist Josef Fritzl smirks after winning bid to move to lower-security prison wing

Austrian monster Josef Fritzl — who kept his daughter locked up in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her — was seen smirking after he won his bid to be moved from a psychiatric unit into a traditional prison wing.

The decision on Thursday paves the way for Fritzl, 88, to apply for his release into a nursing home within the year.

He is suffering from dementia and told the three-judge panel in Krems an der Donau how he deeply regretted locking his daughter, Elisabeth, in an underground cellar and dealt with the crimes “intensely,” according to The Sun.

Fritzl also said he regularly reads the case files on his 2009 prosecution, when he was convicted of enslavement, rape, incest and “murder by neglect.”

“He was close to tears during the hearing,” his attorney, Dr. Astrid Wagner, told reporters in the aftermath of the court hearing.

“He said he is unbelievably sorry for his victims, he would love to undo everything he did.”

Under the conditions of his release to a lower-security wing, Fritzl will have to attend regular psychotherapy sessions and undergo psychiatric evaluations for a 10-year probationary period.

“In summary, the court has come to the conclusion that it is indeed the case that he is no longer dangerous,” Wagner said outside the regional courthouse on Thursday.

The decision came after Austrian psychiatrist Heidi Kastner, who previously described Fritzl as “extremely psychologically abnormal” and “emotionally illiterate” concluded in a 28-page report that the convicted killer is no longer a threat.

Fritzl appears to be confused, regularly talks to a TV, believes he is a pop star and discusses visits from family members that never happened, the reports said, citing local media.

He has also reportedly experienced multiple falls behind bars and needs a walker.

Wagner said a new petition to get him moved into a nursing home “will happen soon,” claiming Fritzl “wants to get on with the process” and “is very confident” his petition will be granted.

“He said ‘It’s in God’s hands, but also my hands,” the lawyer told The Sun.

But Thursday’s decision is not yet final, and requires a further decision to be made by a public prosecutor — who has 14 days to lodge an appeal.

Fritzl had kept his daughter in a cellar for more than two decades after claiming she ran out and joined a cult.

During that time, he drugged and abused Elisabeth, raped her more than 3,000 times and fathered seven children with her.

He also tossed the bodies of one of the children who died shortly after birth into a furnace.

Of the seven kids born from the repeated abuse of his daughter between the ages of 18 and 42, three remained in captivity with her and one died shortly after birth.

The others were raised by Fritzl and his wife, Rosemarie, after he claimed they had appeared on their doorstep.  

Fritzl’s crimes were finally discovered in April 2008 after he took one of the children born to Elisabeth to a hospital due to a life-threatening illness.

Elisabeth and the children now live in an undisclosed location under assumed names.

The children — now between the ages of 17 and 31 — sleep in rooms with doors always kept open after undergoing weekly therapy sessions to help them overcome the trauma in the dungeon.

With Post wires.