A 21-year-old Austrian man has been sentenced to fifteen years in jail for planning a jihadist assault on a Taylor Swift live performance in Vienna in August 2024 in the course of the US singer Ellas’ tour.
The person, who is barely given the identify Beran A in accordance with Austrian privateness legal guidelines, was additionally convicted of a sequence of different terrorism-related crimes.
He was arrested on a tip-off from the CIA simply earlier than the primary of Taylor Swift’s three sold-out concert events scheduled to happen at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium.
All three performances in Austria had been instantly canceled, a lot to the dismay of round 200,000 followers and the singer herself.
Swift beforehand spoke about how her record-breaking Elas Tour “narrowly prevented carnage”. The tour documentary revealed that the US singer discovered concerning the bomb plot throughout a visit to Austria.
Prosecutors mentioned Beran A had turn into radicalized and had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group. He mentioned he tried to illegally buy weapons reminiscent of machine weapons and grenades, however was unsuccessful.
Courtroom psychiatrist Peter Hoffman mentioned Beran A confirmed no indicators of psychological sickness, including there was “no psychiatric rationalization” for his radicalization.
He was on trial in Wien Neustadt, a metropolis south of Vienna, together with one other 21-year-old man from Slovakia, Alda Okay., who’s accused of being a part of a cell of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
Alda Okay., who was not concerned within the conspiracy in opposition to the live performance, was sentenced to 12 years in jail.
Beran A. mentioned he was sorry in courtroom early Thursday earlier than jurors retired for a number of hours to contemplate their verdict.
Instantly after the assault was thwarted, Taylor Swift mentioned she was crammed with a “new sense of dread” and mentioned the cancellation had left her with “great guilt.”
However the US megastar added on Instagram: “We’re additionally very grateful to the authorities, as a result of because of them we’re grieving a live performance as a substitute of a life.”
