Syrian-Swede jailed for plotting to attack Stockholm festival

STOCKHOLM - A Stockholm court on Wednesday 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.

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 organization".

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.