Friend of Taylor Swift attack suspect sentenced in IS case by Austrian court

A courthouse is shown in an undated photo. (Pexels / Brett Sayles)

VIENNA -- A teenage friend of the man suspected of planning a foiled attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last year was given a two-year prison sentence on Friday for being a member of Islamic State, the teenager’s lawyer and a court official said.

The 18-year-old, identified as Luca K, was sentenced for belonging to a terrorist and criminal organization, said a spokesperson for the court in Wiener Neustadt near Vienna.

He was found to have shared the militant group’s material online and praised a jihadist gunman who killed four people in an attack in Vienna in 2020, local media reports said.

He pleaded guilty and has renounced Islamist ideology, his lawyer Michael Dohr told reporters at the court.

Luca K was arrested the same day as Beran A, the 20-year-old identified as the chief suspect as prosecutors continue to investigate the alleged plot to attack the U.S. singer’s concert last August. Both have been in custody since then.

Luca K’s lawyer said that his client had a summer job building the stage for Swift’s concerts, but had not been linked to the planned attack.

“There is absolutely no evidence that he was involved in the attack plans,” Dohr was quoted as saying by the APA news agency.

He also played down the men’s friendship, saying they were simply part of the same social circle.

Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Helen Popper, Reuters