Wiener Neustadt, Austria. The trial of a 21-year-old accused of planning an Islamist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024 opened on Tuesday, with his lawyer saying he would plead guilty to the main charges. Prosecutors allege the planned attack was foiled at the last moment.
Charges linked to Vienna concerts
The defendant, an Austrian identified as Beran A, was arrested on Aug. 7, 2024, the day before the first of three planned concerts by the U.S. pop star in Vienna. All three dates were cancelled.
Prosecutors accuse Beran A of obtaining online instructions on how to make shrapnel bombs of the kind used by Islamic State, producing a small amount of the explosive triacetone peroxide, and trying to buy weapons illegally for the planned attack.
He has been charged with various terrorism-related offences as well as belonging to a criminal organisation and making a dangerous threat, and faces 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Additional allegations and co-defendant
The trial in Wiener Neustadt, near Vienna, will also address other allegations. Prosecutors say Beran A swore allegiance to Islamic State and, along with Slovak national Arda K, planned attacks in the Middle East that they did not carry out, and helped a third man who has been arrested on suspicion of carrying out a knife attack in Mecca.
Beran A’s lawyer, Anna Mair, said before proceedings began just after 9 a.m. that her client would plead guilty regarding the concert plot and not guilty to the other allegations.
Arda K will plead guilty to travelling to Istanbul with the intention of carrying out a militant attack that he did not go ahead with, his lawyer, David Jodlbauer, said.
Court appearance and alleged Middle East plots
Both defendants covered their faces as they entered the courtroom, a practice described as common in German-speaking countries to avoid being identifiable in photographs. Beran A wore a dark blue shirt and jeans, and Arda K wore a light blue shirt and beige trousers.
Prosecutors also allege Beran A, Arda K, and the third man planned to carry out one attack each in the Middle East before the Vienna concerts, in March 2024: Beran A in Dubai, Arda K in Istanbul, and the third man in Mecca.
What impact do you think the cancelled Vienna concerts had on security planning for major events in Austria?
