Former US Marine pilot loses appeal against extradition from Australia
Reuters
A former US marine wanted by Washington over allegations he illegally trained Chinese pilots is set to be extradited, after losing his bid to stay in Australia.
Daniel Duggan, 57, was arrested in the regional town of Orange in New South Wales in October 2022 at the request of the United States. They claim he broke U.S. arms trafficking laws by training Chinese fighter pilots in South Africa between 2010 and 2012.
Duggan, who denies the allegations and is an Australian citizen, appealed the extradition, but on Thursday a Federal Court judge threw out the case, paving the way for his deportation.
Outside court, Duggan’s wife said she was disappointed by the decision and called on the government to intervene.
Details in U.S. court documents allege that Duggan failed to seek permission from the U.S. government to provide military training to Chinese forces.
The father of six, who renounced his US citizenship, faces up to 65 years in prison if convicted of the charges against him.
Duggan’s lawyer had previously argued that Australia should oppose extradition because it did not have an equivalent law covering US charges, which is a requirement for extradition requests.
However, in 2024, then-Attorney General Mark Dreyfus approved the extradition.
Duggan has 28 days to appeal the Federal Court’s decision, which also included an order to pay the government’s costs.
Outside court, Saffrine Duggan said her husband – who is being held in a maximum security prison – is “an ordinary Australian going about his business and has not broken any Australian laws”.
“[It’s been] “It’s been 1,273 days since our family suffered terrible trauma since Dan was arrested in a supermarket car park after dropping our children off at school,” Saffrine Duggan said, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
She said the years-long affair had cost the family about half a million dollars, and they had struggled to finance it after an injunction placed on the family home prevented them from selling it, according to the Australian Associated Press.
