Audio By Carbonatix
A 16-year-old who helped to prepare a foiled attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last year has avoided prison.
Mohamed A was given an 18-month suspended sentence under juvenile criminal law in Berlin on Tuesday.
The Syrian, who prosecutors said was radicalised by Islamic State (IS) propaganda on the internet, was 14 when he helped the would-be attacker with a translation of bomb-making instructions from Arabic and put him in contact with an IS member.
Swift's three sold-out gigs at Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium were called off in August last year by concert organisers after the planned attack was uncovered by police.
The court said the teenager made a full confession to the charges.
At the time charges were brought, he was only identified as Mohamed A in line with German privacy laws.
Under a suspended sentence, convicts need to meet certain conditions to avoid being sent to prison.
Three suspects, all of whom were teenagers at the time, have also been detained by Austrian authorities over the plot.
An investigation into the main suspect, identified as Beran A, is ongoing. The 20-year-old Austrian, who is in custody, was arrested before the concerts following a tip-off from the CIA.
The US foreign intelligence service said the plotters had hoped to kill a large number of concert-goers.
Investigators allege Beran A had also planned to carry out an earlier attack in Dubai in March 2024.
Reports suggested it was part of a co-ordinated plot involving three simultaneous IS attacks but he had changed his mind at the last minute.
In August last year, Swift described the cancellation of her Vienna tour dates as "devastating".
"But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives," she added.
Latest Stories
-
Recreational use of cannabis remains illegal – Interior Minister warns
14 minutes -
Wa West health crisis: District hospital named “best in region” despite running on only 5 midwives and broken theatre table
16 minutes -
Eight out of 10 cardiac hospitalisations in Ghana caused by heart failure
31 minutes -
Fisheries Commission to roll out insurance; Navy training for fishermen after sea attack
1 hour -
Failure to appoint Defence Minister has made Ghana vulnerable to external threats – Ntim Fordjour
1 hour -
Sanction fishermen who go beyond the demarcated fishing zones – Dr Doke
1 hour -
Gov’t seizes 500 excavators, impounds 490 at Tema Port
1 hour -
No ready market, no licence: Gov’t sets strict entry rules for cannabis business
2 hours -
Minority MPs demand solutions on issues confronting Ghanaians ahead of SONA
2 hours -
6,530 Delegates endorse APN’s 12-Point compact, push for visa-free Africa
2 hours -
MahamaCare to embrace natural health solutions backed by science
2 hours -
Gov’t approves payment plan for nurses and midwives’ salary arrears
2 hours -
No arrangement to send DVLA staff abroad – Foreign Affairs Ministry contradicts DVLA boss
2 hours -
US and Iran hold talks seen as crucial to prevent conflict
3 hours -
Spain to check Gibraltar arrivals under post-Brexit deal
3 hours
