A man who admitted to plotting to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna nearly two years ago told an Austrian court that he was sorry before the verdict in his trial.
The plot was thwarted but Austrian authorities still cancelled Swift’s three performances in August 2024.
The defendant, a 21-year-old Austrian citizen known only as Beran A in line with Austrian privacy rules, faces charges including terrorist offences and membership of a terrorist organisation.
He pleaded guilty to the charges related to the concert plot on the opening day of the trial in April. He could face up to 20 years in prison.
Beran A allegedly planned to target people outside the Ernst Happel Stadium with knives or homemade explosives. Tens of thousands of Taylor Swift fans had travelled to attend Swift’s recordmaking Eras tour.
Beran A also allegedly networked with other members of Islamic State before of the planned attack. Prosecutors said they discussed purchasing weapons and making bombs, and that the defendant sought to illegally buy weapons in the days before the performance and swore allegiance to the group.
Beran A is on trial alongside Arda K, whose full name also has not been made public. They, as well as a third man who remains in pretrial detention in Saudi Arabia, allegedly planned to carry out simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan 2024 in the name of IS.
Only Beran A was charged in connection with the concert plot. He pleaded not guilty to the charges related to the plot for simultaneous attacks.
In closing arguments on Thursday at the state court in Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna, prosecutors called for the men’s conviction, the Austria Press Agency reported.
Beran A’s defence lawyer, Anna Mair, told the court that her client was “not an ideological mastermind”.
In final words to the court before it adjourned to consider a verdict, Beran A said: “I would just like to say that I am sorry.”