Former “top gun” pilot, Dan Duggan, wanted by the US for having provided training to Chinese fighter pilots, was today told his extradition can go ahead. Robert Barwick with the story.

Six months after hearing former US Marine pilot Dan Duggan’s appeal against the Attorney General’s decision to approve his extradition to the United States, Justice Stelios denied his appeal today in the federal court in Canberra.

Justice Stelios also awarded costs against Duggan.

Dan Duggan was not present for the ruling, but on behalf of the family, his wife, Saffrine Duggan, said the family will continue to fight.

“We are very disappointed by this ruling, and we will consider our options carefully”, Mrs Duggan said. “But make no mistake – we will not give up.”

Dan Duggan is an Australian citizen who was going about his business when he was arrested out of nowhere on behalf of a foreign country, accused of activities that are not crimes in Australia.

Based on the three allegations in the US indictment against Duggan related to training Chinese pilots in South Africa, he is not eligible for extradition. As an Australian citizen, he was not under US jurisdiction when he committed the alleged acts in the indictment, and

the allegations do not satisfy the basic requirement of dual criminality as they are not crimes in Australia.

When British pilots who worked alongside Duggan in South Africa faced similar allegations in 2022, the British government stated frankly they had broken no British law and had nothing to answer for.

The Australian government were not as forthright as their British counterparts: in 2022, the Australian Federal Police arrested Duggan on behalf of the United States, and Attorney General Mark Dreyfus approved his extradition, by retrospectively applying a 2018 law which meant Duggan’s alleged actions in 2012 met the dual criminality requirement.

Duggan has been fighting against the appeal ever since.

There are signs that the US and Australian governments have attempted to influence media coverage and muddy the waters with extraneous claims about Duggan’s activities, implying involvement with other legal cases in America and Canada, but they have nothing to do with the allegations in the indictment against him.

Saffrine Duggan issued the following statement on behalf of the couple and their six children.

“It has been 1,273 days of our family suffering terrible trauma since Dan was arrested in a supermarket car park after dropping our kids at school”, she said.

“Since that day Dan has been locked up in maximum security. 

“He spent 19 months in solitary confinement. He has missed so much – first and last days of school, sporting events, birthdays, Christmases, and wedding anniversaries.

“We are an Aussie family who had our husband, father, son-in-law, our property and our feeling of safety stripped away from us.

“Today does not end our search for justice, for fairness and for the sovereignty that the Australian public expect. …

“We will continue to advocate for Dan, especially with our government, asking them to protect Australians from US overreach and malicious prosecution.

“Dan was an ordinary Australian, lawfully going about his business in Australia when he was arrested by a foreign power.

“This has gone on long enough – enough is enough.”

The Duggan family relies entirely on public donations to fund his appeals, as he does not qualify for legal aid, and the US government convinced an Australian court to freeze the sale of Saffrine Duggan’s property, which she tried to sell to pay his legal bills.

Meanwhile, under Australia’s extradition treaty with the United States,

the Australian government pays all of the US government legal bills in relation to the case.

The Duggan Family is considering their options. Meanwhile, the only person who has the power to prioritise the interests of an Australian citizen over those of the US military is the current Attorney General, Michelle Rowland.

https://michaelwest.com.au/prioritising-war-mongering-ally-over-australian-citizen-dan-duggan-to-be-extradited/

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