In brief
Mohamed A, a 16-year-old from Syria, avoided prison for his role in a foiled terror attack aimed at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna. He was sentenced to an 18-month suspended term after confessing to aiding the plot, which involved translating bomb-making instructions and connecting the attacker to ISIS operatives. Swift's concerts were called off following police intervention after the plot was discovered. Other suspects remain detained.
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 radicalized by Islamic State (IS) propaganda on the internet, was 14 when he helped the would-be attacker by translating bomb-making instructions from Arabic and connecting him 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 organizers 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, 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 stated that the plotters intended to kill a large number of concert-goers. Reports suggested that this was part of a coordinated plot involving multiple IS attacks, although Beran A changed his mind last minute. In August last year, Swift described the cancellation of her Vienna tour dates as 'devastating' but expressed gratitude to the authorities, stating, 'Thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.'
