Syrian-Swede jailed for plot to attack Stockholm festival

Syrian-Swede jailed for plot to attack Stockholm festival

A Stockholm court jailed a 19-year-old man for nearly eight years for having plotted to attack a culture festival on behalf of the Islamic State.

A general view of the Stockholm district court in Sweden. (EPA Images pic)
STOCKHOLM:
A Stockholm court jailed a 19-year-old Syrian-Swede for nearly eight years for having plotted to attack a culture festival on behalf of the Islamic State (IS).

The district court convicted the man of planning to bomb the Stockholm Culture Festival in August 2025, as well as “aggravated participation in a terrorist organisation”.

The court sentenced the man, who had pleaded guilty to the charges, to seven years and 10 months behind bars.

“The district court considers that the planned terrorist offence could have seriously harmed Sweden and that the aim was, in the name of IS, to instill grave fear in a segment of the population in Sweden that does not share IS’s ideology,” said a statement from the court.

The man had secured financing for the attack, conducted reconnaissance in the Kungstradgarden park in central Stockholm, and recorded a “martyr video” to be published after the act, it said.

“He was also in possession of instructions and components for manufacturing explosives, and had purchased clothing and a body camera with which he intended to film the attack,” it added.

The case made headlines in Sweden, especially after it emerged that part of the evidence against the man came from contacts he had with a police infiltrator who had gained his confidence by providing him with a number of unloaded firearms.

However, the court said it found “no grounds” to question the evidence obtained through the infiltrator.

The man was also found guilty, along with a 17-year-old accomplice, of plotting a murder in southern Germany in August 2024.

The 17-year-old was also convicted of belonging to IS, and was sentenced to juvenile detention for a year and four months.

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