An Austrian court has sentenced a 21-year-old man to 15 years in jail for plotting a foiled jihadist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna.
The American singer was forced to cancel three shows of her Eras tour in the summer of 2024 after authorities warned of the plot, which was linked to the Islamic State (IS) group.
A jury at the state court in Wiener Neustadt, outside Vienna, found the man, identified only as Beran A. under Austrian privacy rules, guilty on all counts on May 28 after several hours of deliberation. The judge then handed down the 15-year term.
Beran A. had pleaded guilty to all the charges except being an accomplice to attempted murder. He had faced a maximum of 20 years.
He was arrested the day before the cancelled concert and has been detained since. While listening to the verdict, he looked into the courtroom repeatedly, sniffling, with his leg and hands shaking.
A second defendant, 21-year-old Arda K., was sentenced to 12 years. Both sentences can still be appealed.
In testimony last month, Beran A. said he had become convinced that he “had to wage jihad” although he was “afraid to die”. He told the court he had chosen the packed Ernst Happel Stadium during Swift’s concert as a target.
He described how he obtained instructions and tried but failed to build a bomb. He also sought advice on weapons in several chat groups and from a high-ranking IS member.
In their closing remarks, both men apologised. “I just want to say that I’m sorry,” Beran A. told the court.
Prosecutors said Beran A. and Arda K., together with a third Austrian, Hasan E., had formed a “highly dangerous IS terror cell” that planned to carry out several attacks, mainly abroad.
Hasan E. is in prison in Saudi Arabia, accused of stabbing a security official in Mecca in 2024 and injuring four others.
Defence lawyer Anna Mair urged the jury to acquit Beran A. of encouraging Hasan E. over the stabbing, saying there was no evidence. “Beran is not a leader, he is not an ideological mastermind,” she said.
The prosecution told the jury it had the “chance to send a clear signal” that those who commit crimes would be held accountable. According to prosecutors, Beran A. had been a member of a terror organisation since 2023 and had “openly aligned himself” with IS by sharing its propaganda.
The plot was thwarted with the help of US intelligence.
Last year, a Berlin court convicted a Syrian teenager of contributing to the plot. The 16-year-old was given an 18-month suspended sentence.
