According to Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, “intensive investigations are ongoing, and another person was arrested last night in Vienna.” The arrested individual is an 18-year-old Iraqi national who is associated with 19-year-old Beran A., an Austrian citizen of North Macedonian origin, who is the main suspect in a planned suicide attack on Taylor Swift’s concerts.
Minister Karner stated that the 18-year-old, who was arrested yesterday, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State on August 6 but is not believed to have been directly involved in the planning of the concert attack. At the time of his arrest, he was found carrying “IS” propaganda material and had been spreading terrorist propaganda on social media.
As for Beran A., who went by the nickname “Mo” (short for Muhammad), and 17-year-old Turkish-Croatian Luka K., who was already known to the authorities and was arrested outside the “Ernst Happel” stadium where the concerts were to take place, the Prosecutor’s Office has requested pre-trial detention. This request is expected to be approved within the next 48 hours, according to court spokesperson Birgit Bornes.
At the same time, Austrian authorities have requested that North Macedonia investigate Beran A.’s hometown of Gostivar, located in the western part of the country, which is predominantly ethnic Albanian. However, it is unclear whether the suspect had ever lived there, as he was born and raised in Austria. According to a report by the magazine Profil, Beran A. attended a commercial school in Neukirchen, Lower Austria, and during his studies, he exhibited violent behavior towards female classmates—at the age of 15, he reportedly “grabbed a female student by the neck and pushed her against the wall.” The magazine also noted that he had been deemed unfit for military service due to “psychological and physical” reasons.
Both men face serious charges, including participation in a terrorist and criminal organization. They are also accused of being members of the Islamic State and acting as representatives of its goals and intentions.
The arrested 15-year-old has been released
Meanwhile, a third suspect, a 15-year-old of Turkish origin, was temporarily released today but will continue to be “intensively interrogated” as a witness, according to the Interior Minister. So far, he has reportedly implicated his friend, telling the police that Beran A. had been dealing with explosives recently and, when asked why, replied: “You’ll find out later.”
Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) said in an interview last night with Austrian public broadcaster ORF’s “ZIB2” news program that the information initially came to the Army Intelligence Service, which then passed it on to the State Security and Intelligence Service (DSN). According to the Austrian News Agency (APA), the Army Intelligence Service received the information from two allied foreign military intelligence services about 10-14 days ago. The information was initially vague, prompting further investigation by the Austrian agency before handing over the findings to the DSN, which has since taken charge of the case.
