Three men found guilty over planned terror attack in Austria

VIENNA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Three suspects accused of planning a terror attack on a police station in Austria on Wednesday were found guilty by the Vienna Regional Court, according to local media reports.

The three men, two of whom are aged 19 and the other 22, were accused of having started a splinter group of the terror organization Islamic State (IS), and had in 2015 planned a murder attack on a police station in the city of St. Polten, west of the capital.

They were first to have robbed a gun store in the same city, later using the weapons from there to carry out the subsequent attack. The plan is believed to have been foiled by an anonymous tip-off.

All three admitted to the allegations, though argued that they had not come up with the idea themselves. One of them was reportedly in contact with a member of IS via social media.

The 22-year-old, who came to Austria from Chechnya in 2002, had already received a prison sentence of 33 months for a number of robberies, and following Wednesday's court outcome was given an additional six months.

One of the 19-year-olds, who had been spreading IS propaganda through social media prior to his arrest, was given a 26-month sentence, while the other was given 15 months, of which five are to be served as a minimum. Enditem