An Australian judge has dismissed an appeal by Daniel Duggan, a former US Marine Corps pilot, who is fighting extradition to the United States over allegations he illegally trained Chinese military aviators more than a decade ago.
Mr Duggan is accused of training Chinese military pilots while working for the Test Flying Academy of South Africa. He denies the allegations, calling them "political posturing" and claiming the US unfairly singled him out.
Federal Court Justice James Stellios ruled no jurisdictional error was made in 2024 by then Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus in ordering Duggan's extradition.
Outside the Canberra court, Duggan’s wife, Saffrine Duggan, a mother of six, said his lawyers would consider a further appeal. They are also urging the current Attorney-General, Michelle Rowland, to reverse the extradition order.
“We are very disappointed by this ruling and we will consider our options carefully. But make no mistake, we will not give up,” Saffrine Duggan said. “Today does not end our search for justice.”
Rowland’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A 2016 indictment from the U.S. District Court in Washington, which was unsealed in late 2022, alleges Duggan conspired with others to provide training to Chinese military pilots in 2010 and 2012, and possibly other times, without applying for an appropriate license.
Prosecutors allege Duggan received about nine payments totaling around 88,000 Australian dollars ($61,000) from another conspirator as well as travel to the U.S., South Africa and China for what was sometimes described as “personal development training.”
Duggan, who is 57 and was born in Boston, has been held in maximum security prisons since he was arrested in 2022 at a supermarket near his family home in New South Wales.
