Syrian Refugee Sentenced to Life in Austrian Prison for Deadly Knife Rampage
VIENNA (Reuters) — A 24-year-old Kurdish Syrian refugee was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday by an Austrian court for a deadly knife rampage in the southern town of Villach earlier this year, with a jury finding him guilty on all counts, including murder and terrorism-related offenses.
The defendant, whose identity has been withheld, was arrested within minutes of fatally stabbing a 14-year-old boy and wounding five other people with a folding knife in February 2025. He later confessed to carrying out the attack and pledging loyalty to the Islamic State militant group.
Prosecutors told the court in Klagenfurt that the suspect underwent what they described as a “lightning radicalization” process on TikTok, a development that even surprised his own brother, according to local media reports covering the trial.
When the presiding judge asked the defendant, through an interpreter, whether he would commit the same crime again if given the chance, the man nodded in affirmation, Austrian public broadcaster ORF and the APA news agency reported.
The eight-member jury delivered a unanimous verdict of guilty on charges of murder, five counts of attempted murder, and terrorism-related offenses. The defendant indicated he did not intend to appeal the ruling.
Throughout the proceedings, which opened and concluded on the same day, the defendant spoke little. Extraordinary security measures were in place, including a protective screen around the dock, and reporters were barred from bringing any electronic devices into the courtroom.
The attack marked the second deadly Islamist militant assault on Austrian soil in recent years, following the November 2020 shooting spree in Vienna in which a gunman killed four people and wounded 22 others before being fatally shot by police. The Villach stabbing has reignited debates in Austria about the challenges of monitoring online radicalization among refugee populations and the broader integration policies for asylum seekers.
The Klagenfurt trial, originally scheduled to run through Thursday, coincided with a separate terrorism case in Vienna involving a 21-year-old man accused of plotting an Islamist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in August 2024 — a plan that was foiled just hours before it was to be carried out. In that trial, the defendant, identified as Beran A., has pleaded guilty to charges related to the concert plot but not to other alleged conspiracies. A verdict in that case is expected on Thursday.
Legal experts say the back-to-back terrorism trials underscore Austria’s heightened vigilance against extremist threats, while also raising questions about the effectiveness of social media platforms in curbing rapid radicalization. The life sentence handed down in the Klagenfurt case carries a minimum confinement period of 20 years under Austrian law, though parole eligibility and further security measures will be reviewed separately.