Man jailed for 15 years

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The court in Wiener Neustadt, south of the capital, found the 21-year-old defendant, an Austrian citizen known only as Beran A in accordance with Austrian privacy rules, guilty of several charges, including those related to the concert.

The concert plan was foiled, but Austrian authorities still canceled Swift’s three performances in August 2024.

His lawyer said Beran A. admitted to the charges related to the concert plot during the opening day of the trial last month.

In brief final words to the court before it adjourned on Thursday to consider a verdict, Beran A said: “I would just like to say that I am sorry.”

Beran A is said to be planning to attack people outside the Ernst Happel Stadium with knives or homemade explosives. Tens of thousands of Taylor Swift fans, known as Swifties, had traveled to Austria to attend performances on the American singer’s record-breaking Eras Tour. Devastated by the cancellations, many gathered in central Vienna to exchange friendship bracelets and commiserate.

Beran A is also believed to have networked with members of the Islamic State group prior to the planned attack. Prosecutors have said they discussed the purchase of weapons and bomb-making, and that the suspect also attempted to buy weapons illegally in the days leading up to the performance, and pledged allegiance to the militant group.

Authorities searched his apartment on August 7, 2024 and found bomb-making materials. The concerts would start the next day.

“It was devastating that our shows in Vienna were canceled,” Swift wrote in a statement on Instagram two weeks later.

“The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of dread and an enormous amount of guilt because so many people were planning to come to those shows.”

He was tried alongside Arda K, another 21-year-old whose full name has also not been made public. They, together with a third man, Hasan E, who was arrested and remains in pre-trial detention in Saudi Arabia, are said to be planning to carry out simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates on behalf of IS during Ramadan 2024.

Only Beran A was charged in connection with the concert plot. The two defendants were found guilty of, among other things, traveling and training for terrorist purposes and participating in a terrorist organization, the Austrian Press Agency reported.

The court also found the pair guilty of contributing to attempted murder, a charge related to the alleged stabbing of a security officer in Mecca by Hasan E in March 2024. Hasan E also attacked and injured three other officers and a woman before he was arrested, prosecutors said.

Beran A and Arda K did not carry out their alleged plans in the UAE and Turkey. Beran A returned to Vienna and later allegedly made plans to attack the Swift concert there.

Arda K received a prison sentence of twelve years. The two men listened stoically to the verdict and sentencing.

Beran A’s lawyer, Anna Mair, said after the verdict that she would discuss with her client in the coming days whether to accept the verdict.