Terrorist attack plan!
Terrorist charge in Austrian court!
Vienna, May 28 (EFE).-
An Austrian court sentenced a 21-year-old man to 15 years in prison on Thursday for planning a terrorist attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in Aug. 2024. His accomplice, who is also 21, was given a 12-year sentence.
According to the Austrian news agency APA, Beran A. and Ardan K. were found guilty at the Regional Court of Wiener Neustadt of inciting Hasan E. to commit a terrorist knife attack in Saudi Arabia.
The court also found that they had ties to a cell of the Islamic State group.
Beran A. was arrested on Aug. 7, 2024, after the Austrian police discovered a plot to attack at the concert, which was scheduled for two days later as part of Swift’s “Eras Tour.”
For security reasons, the Austrian authorities canceled all three of the singer’s performances, despite the fact that over 200,000 tickets had already been sold and thousands of her fans had traveled to the capital city of Austria to see her.
The guilty verdict included several terrorism charges, such as attempted murder, traveling for terrorist purposes, terrorist training, terrorist association, and criminal organization.
The sentences are not yet binding, but the defense requested a three-day reflection period.
The magistrate presiding over the jury argued that penalties within the 10- to 20-year sentencing range are “appropriate to the act and culpability.”
“Religiously motivated extremist motives,” as well as the prolonged period over which the events took place, were considered aggravating factors.
Mitigating factors included the defendants’ ages at the time of the crimes and their admissions of guilt.
The three young men were members of a terrorist cell and acted in coordination with Hasan E., who is currently imprisoned in Saudi Arabia.
Together, they planned to carry out simultaneous attacks against security forces in Mecca, Istanbul, and Dubai on Mar. 11, 2024.
While the individuals sentenced on Thursday returned to Austria without carrying out their plan, Hasan E. stabbed a security guard and four other people in front of the Grand Mosque in Mecca before being arrested.
He has remained in Saudi Arabia since then, awaiting his trial. Beran A. and Ardan K. admitted to planning the attacks but presented Hasan E., who was absent, as the ringleader who had guided them.
They claimed that he would have attacked in Saudi Arabia without their support, but the judges were not convinced.
Beran A. confessed his intention to harm attendees of the Swift concert.
“I wanted to arm myself as heavily as possible so that it would be something big,” he acknowledged during a police interrogation.
He revealed that his motive was the desire to look “like a hero” to IS and become “famous.” EFE
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