A 21-year-old man who confessed to planning an attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024 was sentenced tonight to 15 years in prison.
After deliberating for several hours, the jury found Austrian Beran A. guilty on all charges, including those relating to terrorism, who admitted he had been convinced it was his duty to “carry out jihad”. Beran A. had been on trial since last month in the city of Wiener Neustadt, along with a man of the same age, Arda K. Along with a third Austrian, Hassan E., who is being held in Saudi Arabia, they are believed to have formed a terrorist cell to carry out attacks.
Arda K. was also found guilty of all charges and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
This morning the defendants were taken to court by police officers who had their faces covered. On the final day of their trial they remained silent, with their heads bowed. Two experts testified that they found no evidence of mental illness in Beran A.
The young man was arrested on the eve of the star’s first concert, following information from US law enforcement agencies. A total of three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna were cancelled for precautionary reasons.
Beran A. said he received instructions from the Islamic State, of which he had been a member since 2023, and tried to build a bomb. He also testified to the court that he went to Dubai and bought two knives with the intention of attacking members of the security forces in March 2024, but when the critical moment arrived he “panicked” and did not proceed.
Together with Arda K. and Hassan E., they intended to attack police officers in Mecca, Istanbul and Dubai. The first two returned to Austria without carrying out their plans. Hassan E., however, remained in Saudi Arabia, where he stabbed a policeman in the neck and injured four other people. He was arrested and is to be tried in that country.
