Australian police have charged a Queensland PhD candidate with preparing a terrorist act after alleging he planned to throw a Molotov cocktail into an Australia Day crowd on the Gold Coast, in an attack authorities say was intended to spark unrest.
A Brisbane Magistrates Court heard on Thursday that Sepehr Saryazdi, 24, discussed leading “riots” on January 26 in online messages and urged others to stockpile alcohol bottles to make incendiary devices.
Prosecutors said he had bought bottles of alcohol and other materials earlier this month, and told the court his comments in a private Facebook Messenger group were “extremely concerning”.
The court heard Saryazdi believed the Australian government was becoming tyrannical and wanted to replace it with what he described as a “cybernetics” system in which society would be guided by artificial intelligence and data analysis. Prosecutors said he expected to die during the alleged attack, and had encouraged group members to learn how to shoot.
His lawyer said Saryazdi had become isolated after moving to Brisbane and was emotionally overwhelmed, arguing he never intended to hurt anyone and sought national attention for his grievances.
Magistrate Penelope Hay denied bail and remanded him in custody. He is due back in court on February 20.
