Australia has agreed to extradite a former Marines pilot who the U.S. has accused of training Chinese pilots more than a decade ago.
Australian Attorney General Mark Dreyfus confirmed in a statement on Monday that the U.S. ally would extradite Daniel Duggan following a more than two-year battle by the former Marine and his family.
In May, a federal court in Sydney ruled that he could be extradited, overruling pleas from Duggan and his family, including his wife and six children in Australia.
With the attorney general’s decision, Duggan’s family is concerned that he could now be extradited as early as New Year’s Day.
“We are shocked and absolutely heartbroken by this callous and inhumane decision which has been delivered just before Christmas with no explanation or justification from the Government,” said his wife, Saffrine Duggan, in a video statement.
Dan Duggan was arrested in 2022 after the Trump administration charged him in 2017 with violating arms control laws by allegedly training Chinese pilots in South Africa between 2010 and 2012.
Duggan served as a fighter pilot and flight instructor during his 13 years in the military before retiring in 2022. He moved to Australia in 2005 and then to Beijing in 2014. It wasn’t immediately clear where he was living when he was arrested.
His wife, Saffrine Duggan, has set up funding pages online to raise money to support the legal battles for Duggan.
“Now as a single mother of six, I can only work part-time, and we have no funds to fight for Dan, or pay the bills,” she said, adding the family had been refused legal aid and claiming the U.S. froze the sale of their home in New South Wales.
“Please help support our family to stop this injustice and protect Australian sovereignty.”
