A man who was to be deported from Austria to the Russian Republic of Dagestan as a result of terrorism investigations has been found dead in his cell.
He was one of four people who were taken into custody in the Austrian capital of Vienna following terror warnings in Vienna and Cologne late last year, dpa has learned.
In May, pre-trial detention for the man was lifted due to a lack of direct suspicion of a crime. However, deportation proceedings were initiated against the four men at the same time.
A spokesman for the Vienna police confirmed the death of a 40-year-old man in a police jail to dpa after the Kronen newspaper reported on the case.
The man did not die from external causes, the spokesman said.
One of the four, a Tajik, had been taken into custody in the western German town of Wesel on Christmas Eve 2023 and extradited to Austria in February.
The police had received information about a possible attack at Cologne Cathedral relating to New Year's Eve celebrations.
Before Christmas, security authorities had also received a tip-off about a possible planned attack on Viennese landmarks such as St Stephen's Cathedral.
Two men from Tajikistan and Dagestan and a woman with Turkish roots were arrested in Austria.
The Tajik has already been deported, as reported by the Austrian news agency APA.
The Vienna public prosecutor's office is continuing to investigate the former detainees on suspicion of involvement in a terrorist organization.
The focus is on the so-called Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) terror group. Western authorities and experts believe that ISPK was responsible for the attack at an event centre in Moscow in March which left more than 140 people dead.