On Friday, a Sydney magistrate determined that Daniel Duggan, a former U.S. Marine Corps pilot, may be extradited to the United States on charges of illegally training Chinese aviators. This decision leaves the attorney general as Duggan’s sole possibility of remaining in Australia.
Magistrate Daniel Reiss ordered the 55-year-old native of Boston to remain in custody while awaiting extradition.
His attorneys stated that they had no legal basis to contest the magistrate’s determination that Duggan was eligible for extradition. However, they will provide Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus with arguments as to why the pilot should not be surrendered.
Bernard Collaery, Duggan’s attorney, informed reporters outside court, “I am confident that the counsel will provide us with ample time to address all of the matters that, pursuant to the Extradition Act, are not permissible in an Australian court.”
In a statement, Dreyfus’ office stated that the government does not provide commentary on extradition matters.
Saffrine Duggan, the mother of Duggan’s six children and his wife, stated that the extradition court hearing was “basically about checking boxes.”
“Now, we respectfully request that the attorney general reevaluate this case and return my husband to his home,” she said to a group of reporters and supporters outside the
court.The Reuters news agency reported that Duggan’s lawyer stated in a legal filing earlier this month that the pilot inadvertently collaborated with
a Chinese hacker.Since his detention in 2022 at his family residence in the state of New South Wales, the pilot has been incarcerated in a maximum
security prison for 19 months.In a 2016 indictment from the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., which was unsealed in late 2022, prosecutors allege that Duggan conspired with others to provide training to Chinese military pilots in 2010 and 2012, and potentially at other times, without applying
for an appropriate license.According to prosecutors, Duggan received approximately nine payments, totaling approximately 88,000 Australian dollars ($61,000), as well as international travel, from another conspirator for what was occasionally
referred to as “personal development training.”Duggan, a highly esteemed jet pilot, served as a tactical flight instructor and achieved the rank of major during his 12-year tenure in the U.S. Marine Corps. He emigrated to Australia in 2002. He opted to relinquish his U.S. citizenship in order to acquire Australian citizenship in January 20
According to the indictment, Duggan conducted training sessions for Chinese pilots in South Africa and traveled to the United States, China, and South Africa.
Duggan Duggan has denied the accusations, asserting that they were political posturing by the United States, which unjustly
argeted him.was a worker for Top Gun Tasmania, Australia’s “eminent adventure flight company.”
On Duggan identified himself as a “former U.S. Marine Corps officer of over 12 years” on the company’s now-defunct website. According to the website, he conducted missions in support of Operation Southern Watch from Kuwait and
the USS Boxer.The website stated that “he flew Harrier leap jets tactically around the globe off of aircraft carriers as a highly trained fighter
pilot.”_2]
