A 21-year-old man has confessed to having planned a jihadist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in August 2024. This is reported by the BBC.
The man, identified only as Beran A, also admitted to having been a member of a terrorist organisation, although he denied other charges, including complicity in planning an attack in the Islamic holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
The public prosecutor told the court in Wiener Neustadt near Vienna that police had found an almost completed bomb during a search of the man’s home.
Beran A was arrested following a tip-off from the American CIA shortly before Swift’s opening concert in Vienna in 2024.
As a result, all three sold-out concerts by the American pop star at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna were cancelled. More than 195,000 people in total were expected to attend.
Thousands of disappointed fans wandered through the city’s streets, singing and exchanging Taylor Swift-themed friendship bracelets.
Beran A was brought into the courtroom, wearing handcuffs, to answer charges of terrorism and other offences.
He stood trial together with another 21-year-old man, named Arda K, who is accused of having been part of an IS cell together with him. They are accused of having planned attacks in Istanbul and Dubai, as well as in Mecca.
The principal defendant’s lawyer, Anna Mair, told the court: “My client has created great fear and panic among many people, and he must be held accountable for that, without doubt. But try to look beyond the headlines”.
Islamisten som ville drepe Taylor Swift-fans i Østerrike er identifisert
Syrisk tenåring unngår fengsel etter planlagt terrorangrep mot konsert
The prosecution in Vienna claims that Beran A began planning the attack no later than 21 July 2024. He was arrested on 7 August, the day before the first concert.
The prosecution accuses him of having sworn allegiance to, and spread propaganda online for, the jihadist group Islamic State (IS), as well as of having produced explosives and attempted to purchase weapons illegally.
He is suspected of having obtained instructions via the internet on how to make a fragmentation bomb, of a type that is “specific to IS attacks”, according to the indictment.
The prosecution accuses him of having received training from other IS members in handling explosives and of having made several attempts to purchase various firearms and a hand grenade through illegal dealers, with the intention of importing the weapons into Austria.
The two men, who were teenagers at the time of the attack, both face up to 20 years’ imprisonment if they are found guilty.
Last year, a teenager in Germany also received a suspended sentence of 18 months for having helped to prepare the thwarted attack.
Terroren i Manchester kunne vært avverget, men frykten for å bli kalt rasist ble for stor
The prosecution stated that the Syrian national, referred to as Mohammed A, assisted Beran A by translating bomb-making instructions from Arabic and put him in contact with an IS member.
The trial is expected to continue until the end of May.
Taylor Swift learned of the bomb plans in Vienna while she was on the plane to Austria, according to a documentary about the Eras Tour.
In her own words, she said that the tour narrowly “avoided a massacre” when the CIA uncovered a plan to detonate a bomb at the concert.
In a conversation with selected media, including the BBC, she said that after performing for 20 years, “it is new to be afraid that something might happen to your fans”.
In a social media post following the incident in 2024, she wrote: “It was devastating to have our Vienna concerts cancelled. But I was also so grateful to the authorities, because thanks to them we mourned concerts and not lives”.