A Middle Eastern CSIRO PhD candidate has been charged with terror offences after allegedly planning to use Molotov cocktails in an attack on the Gold Coast on Australia Day.
Sepehr Saryazdi, 24, was refused bail in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with one count of “acts in preparation for or planning a terrorist act”, after allegedly saying in an online chat group he would lead a “riot” on January 26.
Queensland Police said it was “not alleged that a specific group was the target of the alleged planned acts of violence” on the Gold Coast, where thousands of patriotic Aussies are expected to attend a March for Australia rally starting at 12pm.
Commonwealth prosecutor Ellie McDonald told the court Saryazdi had outlined his alleged plans in Facebook messenger chats, encouraged others to join him, and recommended group members learn to shoot ,and infiltrate ASIO and the defence force to “begin internal operations to bring down tyranny.
“The defendant had plans to lead a riot on the Gold Coast on Australia Day and those plans involved the use of Molotov cocktails, which he had purchased supplies and equipment for,” Ms McDonald said, ABC News reported.
“He says: ‘I will be leading the Gold Coast riots on Jan 26 if you guys know people in Melbourne, let them know so they can start buying vodka bottles early to stockpile in batches’.
“He also states: ‘if arrested the key is to stay calm and collected, when put into questioning remind them what you did is purely logical given the current trajectory of this nation’.”
The court heard that Saryazdi also allegedly talked about overthrowing the government and replacing it with cybernetics, and allegedly said if successful ASIO would “either try to kill me or lobotomise me to kiss the wall”.
Defence lawyer Hellen Shilton told the court in applying for bail that her client had not intended to hurt anybody, and had become isolated after moving to Brisbane from Sydney for his career, The Brisbane Times reported.
“He became influenced a bit by the new people he was associating with. He was interested in geopolitics, he was watching videos and protests and the way things were going,” she said.
“He admits he became quite overwhelmed emotionally. At times he found himself crying. He felt that he should do something and bring attention to the way the world was heading and the government. It was never his intention to hurt anyone.”
But Magistrate Penelope Hay denied bail, finding conditions would not reduce the risk of serious injury to multiple people.
According to Saryazdi’s social media he was working as a PhD candidate with the CSIRO’s Data61’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems Group and the Australian Centre for Robotics.
He also works as a physics teacher, recently did contract work as a Physics, Mathematics, Data Science and Robotics tutor at the University of Sydney, where he graduated with a Master’s in Mathematic in 2024 after completing a Bachelor of Advanced Science, Theoretical and Mathematical Physics.
Header image: Left, right, Sepehr Saryazdi (LinkedIn).
The post Middle Eastern PhD candidate accused of planning Australia Day terror attack first appeared on The Noticer.
The NoticerRead More
R1
T1
