Reuters
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Austrian prosecutors have charged a now 21-year-old suspect with terrorism-related and other charges after he was arrested just before a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024, where he was accused of plotting an attack by Islamic extremists.
The Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office announced in a statement on Monday that it plans to file criminal charges against an unnamed suspect from the town of Wien Neustadt, near Vienna, on suspicion of producing small amounts of explosive triacetone triperoxide and attempting to illegally purchase weapons.
The statement noted that the suspect was arrested in August 2024, the same month that three scheduled Swift concerts were canceled at short notice after Austrian authorities said they had thwarted an attack.
Prosecutors have not named the suspect, but Austrian media identified him as Beran A., the only person arrested in connection with the planned attack. Beran A.’s lawyer could not be reached for comment, but he has previously disputed the charges against his client.
The suspect is a member of the Islamic State group and is accused of conducting online research into a type of high-explosive bomb used by the group and disseminating Islamic State “propaganda material” online, prosecutors said in a statement.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, the statement added.
