A 14-year-old boy from Vienna, suspected of planning a terrorist attack at Westbahnhof station, will remain in pre-trial detention, a court has ruled.
The teenager, believed to be a supporter of the so-called Islamic State (IS), was arrested earlier this month and has so far refused to answer questions.
A search of his home uncovered what investigators believe to be drawings of the planned attack, along with IS propaganda material and a bomb-making guide.
The Vienna Regional Court for Criminal Matters has extended his detention by a further four weeks. Court spokesman Christoph Zonsics-Kral said: “The risk of him committing and carrying out the crime remains.”
The teenager’s arrest was made public just days after an Islamist-motivated knife attack in the southern Austrian city of Villach, which left one person dead and several others injured.
No Comment on Allegations
The teenager’s lawyer, Anna Mair, accepted the court’s decision, arguing that his plans were “far off” from being realised. She described his alleged attack plans as “fantasies.”
However, investigators have pointed to what they say is the structured nature of the boy’s drawings. These reportedly depict a train station, stick figures, and one figure attacking others with a knife or machete. The figures were labelled “Kuffar” – a term used in Islam to refer to non-believers.
Radicalised Online
The teenager, who turns 15 in May, was living with his parents in Vienna’s 18th district, Währing, and had been due to start an apprenticeship later this year.
His parents, who are of Turkish origin, are described as having a liberal attitude and not practising a strict interpretation of Islam.
The teenager was identified after Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office flagged a concerning TikTok profile containing radical Islamist content. However, there is no evidence that the suspect attended mosques or had contact with other IS supporters.
Future Uncertain
The teenager has been assigned a probation officer and is receiving support from Neustart, an organisation that works with offenders. A “social network conference” has also been arranged, bringing together youth court services and his guardians to discuss his future.
