Ex-marine pilot faces legal challenge over alleged training of Chinese aviators

A judge in Australia turned down a request from former US Marine Corps pilot Daniel Duggan on Thursday, who was trying to prevent being sent back to the United States to face accusations that he unlawfully trained Chinese military pilots over ten years ago.

Duggan faces allegations of instructing Chinese military aviators during his time as an instructor at the Test Flying Academy of South Africa.

Duggan has rejected these claims, arguing that they are politically motivated and that the US has unfairly targeted him.

Federal Court Justice James Stellios decided to deny the appeal, stating there was no legal error in the 2024 order by the then Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus for Duggan's extradition.

Duggan's wife, Saffrine Duggan, who is also the mother of his six children, spoke to the media outside the court in Canberra, expressing that his legal team is considering further appeal options.

In addition, they are requesting that Michelle Rowland, the new attorney-general, overturn the extradition decision.

"We are deeply disheartened by the decision and will carefully evaluate our next steps. Rest assured, we will not surrender," Saffrine Duggan stated. "Today does not mark the end of our pursuit of justice."

Rowland's office acknowledged the court's decision and issued a statement announcing that Daniel Duggan would "stay in extradition custody in Australia until he is handed over to the United States."

An indictment from 2016 by the US District Court in Washington, publicly revealed in late 2022, charges Duggan with working alongside others to provide training to Chinese military aviators in 2010 and 2012, among other possible times, without securing the necessary license.

The prosecution asserts that Duggan received approximately nine payments amounting to around 88,000 Australian dollars (about $61,000) from another alleged conspirator, in addition to trips to the US, South Africa, and China, which were sometimes labeled as "personal development training."

Duggan, aged 57 and originally from Boston, has been held in high-security prisons since his 2022 arrest at a grocery store near his home in New South Wales.

He resided and worked in China for nearly five years before his arrest, according to business records.

After serving in the US Marines for 12 years, Duggan moved to Australia in 2002. He became an Australian citizen in January 2012, renouncing his American citizenship in the process.