Overview
- The Vienna public prosecutor filed charges against Beran A., 21, for terrorist offenses, participation in a criminal organization and other crimes at the Landesgericht Wiener Neustadt, with a 14‑day window to challenge the indictment.
- Prosecutors allege he targeted the first of three August 2024 concerts, obtained online instructions for an IS‑style TATP shrapnel bomb and produced a small quantity of the explosive.
- The indictment says he sought to buy firearms and a hand grenade from illegal dealers and to arrange their smuggling into Austria.
- Investigators accuse him of spreading IS‑glorifying propaganda, calling in videos for the killing of “unbelievers,” and encouraging a separate suspect tied to a March 2024 stabbing attempt in Mecca; discussions of attacks in Dubai and Istanbul were not carried out.
- Authorities arrested suspects before the events after CIA warnings that the plot aimed to kill “tens of thousands,” leading organizers to cancel all three Vienna shows that had expected over 200,000 attendees; a conviction could carry up to 20 years in prison.