VIENNA, March 11 — An Austrian court said today it had overturned a lower court decision that 88-year-old incestuous rapist Josef Fritzl be transferred to a regular prison from a prison psychiatric unit, but sent the case back to that court for a new decision.

Fritzl, who has now changed his name to one that has not been made public, raped his daughter and held her captive for 24 years, fathering her seven children.

A court in the town of Krems an der Donau ordered the transfer in January, but prosecutors filed a complaint aimed at overturning that decision to the Vienna Higher Provincial Court.

"Contrarily to the court of first instance, the Vienna Higher Provincial Court came to the conclusion that the facts necessary for such a conditional release had not yet fully been established,” the Vienna court said in a statement.

It said it had overturned the decision of the lower court in Krems and ordered the lower court to establish more facts before reaching a fresh decision.

A spokesman for the lower court said that decision was expected in April. — Reuters