Twenty–two year old Leopold Hilsner was arrested for allegedly murdering a Christian girl. It soon developed into a ritual murder accusation. Although no evidence linking him and the murdered girl was ever presented, Hilsner was forced to sign a confession and was sentenced to death. Through the intervention of T.G. Masaryk (later to be president of Czecholovakia) his sentence was commuted to life. In 1916 he was granted an Imperial pardon and set free.