A 24-year-old Syrian man was sentenced to life in prison in Austria on Wednesday after a jihadist knife attack that killed a teenager and wounded five people in February 2025.
"He said he was ready to do it again at any time," Klagenfurt court spokesman Christian Liebhauser-Karl told AFP.
The judgment is not final, even though the convicted man has waived his right to appeal in cassation, with prosecutors formally having three days to appeal.
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Attack in Villach
On February 15th 2025, the Kurdish-born refugee carried out a knife attack in the name of the Islamic State group in the street in Villach, in southern Austria.
A 14-year-old teenager was killed from behind and five other passers-by, all aged under 33, were injured.
The jury unanimously found him guilty of murder, five counts of attempted murder and terrorist offences.
Court cites risk of reoffending
Taking into account previous offences, the surprise method of the attack, the presence of minors among the victims, the absence of regret, the religious motive and the risk of reoffending, prosecutors had asked the jury to make full use of the sentencing scale.
The Syrian man had obtained asylum in Austria in 2020 to flee conscription before becoming rapidly radicalised from 2024 by watching videos on the social media platform TikTok.
He had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State group two days before the attack.
READ ALSO: Villach knife attack leaves 14-year-old dead, five injured
Attacker stopped by delivery driver
During the attack, he was overpowered by a food delivery driver, also originally from Syria, who rammed him with his vehicle.
According to his statement to police after his arrest, he regretted not having achieved his goal of killing at least around 10 people and dying during the operation.
In 2020, another man claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group opened fire in central Vienna, killing four people.
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