Australia to extradite ex-US pilot linked to South Africa flying school

Australia's Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said on Monday he had approved a United States extradition request for former U.S. Marines pilot Daniel Duggan, who is accused of colluding with a South African flying school to train Chinese military pilots.

Duggan, 55, a naturalised Australian citizen, was arrested by Australian Federal Police in a rural town in New South Wales state in October 2022, shortly after returning from China, where he had lived since 2014.

The allegations centre around a flying school in South Africa where Duggan worked part-time as a flying instructor more than 12 years ago, the statement said.

Duggan is accused of illegally working with the South African flying school as a test pilot, training Chinese military pilots in violation of U.S. arms control law.

'No link to China'

Duggan's lawyers had previously argued in court there is no evidence the Chinese pilots he trained were military, and he was no longer a U.S. citizen at the time of the alleged offences.

Australian authorities said they had determined Duggan should be extradited to the United States to face prosecution after a New South Wales magistrate in May found him eligible for surrender.

"Mr. Duggan was given the opportunity to provide representations as to why he should not be surrendered to the United States. In arriving at my decision, I took into consideration all material in front of me," Dreyfus said in a statement.

Duggan, who has six children in Australia and has been held in prison since his arrest, was not available for comment.

Family devastated

Duggan's family was "devastated" by the decision after receiving a letter from the government saying he will be extradited between December 30 and February 17, his wife Saffrine said in a statement.

"The family and Dan's lawyers are now considering their legal options, including requesting specific reasons for the government’s decision," the statement said.

"Dan maintains his innocence and denies the allegations made against him, which were not considered a crime in Australia," it added.

One of seven co-conspirators in a U.S. indictment is convicted Chinese hacker Su Bin, although Duggan's lawyers argue the hacking case is unrelated.

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