Terror accused Findon man Artem Vasilyev facing 50 charges is refused bail

A young uni student allegedly caught with guns, explosives and terrorism instructions in his home has been refused bail even though he won’t stand trial until at least 2024.

At an unassuming house in Findon a young university student was allegedly building more than a dozen firearms and planning a terror act, court documents reveal.

On Monday, Artem Vasilyev, 25, who faces 50 major charges including possessing explosives and terror materials, including a detailed manual on attacking a nation’s power grid, was refused home detention bail.

The Adelaide Magistrates Court rejected a bid, made last week by defence lawyer Craig Caldicott, to release Mr Vasilyev ahead of his trial for terrorism offences.

A Commonwealth prosecutor had opposed the bid, saying Mr Vasilyev fell under Federal terror legislation and there was a presumption of bail against him.

On Monday, the court said a home detention bail report had found Mr Vasilyev’s address was suitable for electronic monitoring.

However, it also ruled having to wait in custody until 2024 was no significant penalty to Mr Vasilyev because, if convicted, he faces a maximum 30-year jail term.

Previously the court has heard that Commonwealth prosecutors have taken over all charges Mr Vasilyev is facing.

During the raid in August last year on Mr Vasilyev’s Findon house which he shares with his mother police seized 74 electronic devices.

Within the devices were terabytes of data equating tens of thousands of documents.

Documents released by the Adelaide Magistrates Court show Mr Vasilyev is charged with 11 counts of possessing instructions to make explosives and eight counts of possessing material relevant to a terror act in Findon on August 20, 2021.

Artem Vasilyev is charged with terror offences and manufacturing more than a dozen firearms at his Findon home. Picture: University of Adelaide

He is also charged with making 17 imitation Ruger “10/22” receivers. The receiver on a firearm houses other integral parts including the firing pin and “receives” the bullet before being fired.

An additional charged is that Mr Vasilyev made a FGC-9 self loading firearm. An FGC-9 is a 3D printable firearm with the name standing for “f**k gun control” and refering to the 9mm bullets the weapon is capable of firing.

The firearm is capable of being nearly entirely printed using a 3D printer with the design spreading around the world via the internet.

Mr Vasilyev’s most serious charge is that he possessed weapons, explosives or documents in preparation or planning for a terrorist act.

He is also charged with the Commonwealth charge of possessing documents linked to the preparation of a terrorist act, including detailed instructions on attacking a national power grid.

Police also allege that when they raided the house a second time, on September 20, 2021 they found aluminium powder, a chemical compound which explodes on contact with water or various acids, and ammonium nitrate, which becomes volatile if mixed with aluminium.

Mr Caldicott indicated Mr Vasilyev would be pleading not guilty to all charges and was likely to spend up to three years in prison before getting to trial.

He said the earlier available slot for a district court trial was mid-2024, meaning his client would spend an unnecessarily long period in custody.

However, the court that did not compare to the maximum 30-year sentence Mr Vasilyev faced, rejected his bail bid and remanded him in custody until December.