VIENNA,— An Austrian court sentenced a 24-year-old Kurdish Syrian refugee to life in prison Wednesday for a 2025 knife attack in the southern town of Villach that killed a teenager and wounded five others.
A jury in the city of Klagenfurt unanimously found the man guilty of murder, five counts of attempted murder and terrorism-related offenses, media at the trial reported.
The defendant, who was not identified by name, was arrested minutes after stabbing a 14-year-old boy to death and injuring five other people with a jackknife in February 2025. He admitted carrying out the attack and pledging loyalty to Islamic State (IS/ISIS).
Prosecutors told the Klagenfurt court the man went through what they described as rapid radicalization through TikTok, a process that reportedly caught his own brother off guard, according to media covering the trial.
When the presiding judge asked through an interpreter whether he would repeat the attack if given the chance, the defendant nodded, national broadcaster ORF and news agency APA reported.
Court spokesman Christian Liebhauser-Karl told AFP the defendant said he was prepared to carry out such an act again at any time.
The defendant spoke little throughout proceedings. Strict security measures were in place, including a protective screen around him. Reporters were barred from bringing electronic devices into the courtroom.
He indicated he did not intend to appeal the sentence.
The attack marked the second deadly Islamist militant strike in Austria.
The first occurred in November 2020, when a gunman killed four people and injured 22 others in Vienna before police shot him dead.
The Klagenfurt trial, which opened Wednesday and was scheduled to run through Thursday, took place at the same time as proceedings against a 21-year-old charged with plotting an Islamist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024, a plot that was stopped before it could be carried out.
That defendant, identified as Beran A, pleaded guilty to charges tied to the concert plot but denied other charges related to a separate alleged scheme. A ruling in that case is expected Thursday.
(With files from Reuters | AFP)
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