According to his lawyer, the 19-year-old main suspect denies the accusation of planning an attack on the Taylor Swift concert in Vienna: “It was just a mental exercise. He says the bomb was not of good enough quality, it would not have worked at all.”
After the foiled attack on a concert by US singer Taylor Swift in Vienna, the main suspect has denied the allegations, according to his lawyer. “It was just a mind game,” said lawyer Ina-Christin Stiglitz on Sunday when asked by the Reuters news agency. Her client said she had not planned an attack.
In an initial interview during a visit to the pre-trial detention center, the 19-year-old told her that he had built the bomb using a “tutorial” from the Internet. “He said the bomb was not of good enough quality, it wouldn’t have worked at all.”
Three concerts by the US pop singer were cancelled in Vienna last week. Authorities had previously reported on the foiled attack and the arrest of the main suspect and a second young man. Police said they had found explosives and weapons at his home in Ternitz, Lower Austria, about 80 kilometres south of Vienna.
The 19-year-old Austrian with North Macedonian roots intended to kill himself and a large crowd outside the stadium, said Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (DSN). He made a “full confession” to the authorities.
According to the agency responsible for combating terrorism, the main suspect has sworn allegiance to the current leader of the extremist militia Islamic State (IS). According to the lawyer, her client has been studying the ideology of IS for a month. “It interested him,” said Stiglitz.
Neighbors of the 19-year-old told Reuters they were shocked by his arrest and described him as reserved but friendly. One of the few signs of possible radicalization was that he had recently grown a long beard, neighbors said. Stiglitz said he had changed his appearance because he wanted to be “cool.”
Reuters/jr
