STOCKHOLM: An 18-year-old man on trial for plotting a terrorist attack admitted on Tuesday to planning a bombing at a large cultural festival in Stockholm, his lawyer said.
The man, who holds dual Swedish and Syrian citizenship, had sworn loyalty to the Daesh group several times, according to the prosecution.
Lawyer Johan Akermark told AFP his client had pleaded guilty to charges of planning a terrorist crime and planning serious crimes involving flammable and explosive goods.
The young man was also facing charges, alongside a 17-year-old who was also a Syrian-Swedish dual citizen, of attempted murder in Germany in August 2024.
Akermark told AFP his client denied the attempted murder charge.
He has however pleaded guilty to participating in a terrorist group, as well as a charge of training for terrorism.
The trial began last week, but the first part of proceedings dealt with the charges of attempted murder and participation in a terrorist group.
According to prosecutors, the planning of the bombing took place between August 2024 and February 2025.
Deputy chief prosecutor Henrik Olin told a press conference in early November that investigators had begun tracking the suspect in the latter half of 2024.
Olin said the investigation had “prevented a serious terrorist attack in Sweden.”
Prosecutors say the defendant intended to carry out an attack at a park in central Stockholm using “weapons and or explosives in the name of the Daesh,” according to the charge sheet.
The attack was supposed to have been carried out during the Stockholm Culture Festival in August this year.
Prosecutors also said the defendant had recorded a “martyr video” meant to be published after the event.
He was arrested in Stockholm on February 11 and has been in custody since.
The trial is expected to last until November 26.