A 16-year-old Syrian national living in Germany confessed to helping prepare a failed terrorist attack at a Vienna concert and received an 18-month suspended sentence under juvenile law. Prosecutors stated he was 14 at the time of the planned attack and had been radicalized by Islamic State propaganda online, translating bomb-building instructions from Arabic for two co-conspirators. Police arrested three suspects; the main suspect, then 19, remains in custody amid ongoing investigation including an alleged separate Dubai plot. One suspect, then 17, was released without charge. No one was harmed and nearly 200,000 attendees were affected by canceled shows.
The 16-year-old who helped prepare a failed terrorist attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, Austria, last year has been convicted in Germany, reports the BBC. Mohamed A, a Syrian national living in Germany who was 14 at the time of the planned attack, made a full confession to the charges. He was given an 18-month suspended sentence under juvenile criminal law in Berlin court yesterday (August 26). Prosecutors claimed Mohamed A was radicalized by Islamic State terrorist group propaganda online when he helped the other two would-be attackers by translating bomb-building instructions from Arabic.
Concert organizers called off all three of Swift's shows at Vienna's Ernst-Happel-Stadion last August after police were informed of a credible threat. Nearly 200,000 people had been expected to attend the concerts. Ultimately, the plan was thwarted and nobody was harmed. Police arrested three people in connection with the alleged terror plot. Main suspect Beran A, an Austrian man who was 19 at the time of his arrest, remains in custody and an investigation into his role is ongoing. (Investigators allege Beran A also planned to carry out an attack in Dubai in March 2024, notes the BBC.) The second suspect, who was 17 at the time of his arrest, has since been released without charge. Mohamed A was the third suspect, and while he could not be held in custody because of his status as a minor, he was charged by German prosecutors back in June.
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