Ex-Marine Daniel Dugan calls for extradition to US over claims he trained Chinese pilots
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Former U.S. Marine pilot Daniel Dugan appealed Thursday against Australia’s extradition to the United States on charges he illegally trained Chinese military pilots more than a decade ago.
In 2012, Dugan was accused of training Chinese military pilots while serving as an instructor at the South African Flight Test Academy. He appeared in a Canberra courthouse to appeal to lawyers after traveling 350 kilometers (218 miles) from a prison in Wellington, New South Wales.
Federal Court of Australia Judge James Stellios will announce the ruling after a day-long hearing in the capital, Canberra, at an unspecified date.
The 2016 indictment, unsealed in late 2022 by the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., alleges that Dugan conspired with others to provide training for Chinese military pilots in 2010 and 2012, and possibly other times, without applying for appropriate licenses.
Prosecutors allege Dugan received about nine payments totaling about A$88,000 ($61,000) from another co-conspirator and traveled to the United States, South Africa and China for what was sometimes described as “personal development training.”
Dugan has denied the accusations, saying they were political posturing by the United States and that it was unfair for the United States to single him out. He has been held in a high-security prison since being arrested in 2022 at a supermarket near his home in New South Wales.
Australia’s then-Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus approved the 57-year-old’s extradition in December, but his lawyers argued in court on Thursday that the extradition process was legally flawed.
Dreyfus was replaced in May by Michel Rolland, who did not review his predecessor’s decision to send Boston-born Dugan back to the United States.
“The government is aware of today’s proceedings in federal court against Mr. Dugan,” Rowland’s office said in a statement, adding that further comment would be inappropriate because the case remains before the courts.
Dugan’s wife and mother of six, Saffrine Dugan, told supporters outside court Thursday that Rowland “could release Dan at any time.”
“He was used as a pawn in the ideological war between the United States and China, and Australian government agencies allowed this to happen and were willing to participate,” Saffrin Dugan said. “My husband did not break Australian law and was an Australian citizen at the time the alleged pilot training took place.”
Daniel Duggan’s lawyer Christopher Parkin told the court it was “extraordinary” for someone accused of breaking US law to be extradited from Australia to South Africa for action.
Dugan served in the United States Marine Corps for 12 years before moving to Australia in 2002. He obtained Australian citizenship in January 2012, giving up his U.S. citizenship in the process.
