The federal government has approved a request to extradite former US marine corps aviator Daniel Duggan to the US, where he faces charges of training Chinese military pilots.
An unsealed indictment, filed in a Washington district court earlier this month, alleges that Duggan broke American arms control laws by teaching fighter pilots to land on aircraft carriers.
The naturalised Australian is also accused of having provided military training to Chinese pilots through a test flying academy in South Africa between 2010 and 2012.
Duggan was arrested by Australian federal police in a regional New South Wales town on 21 October, at the request of the FBI.
A formal extradition order was lodged on 9 December with Australia’s attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, who had until 25 December to make a decision. A spokesperson for the attorney general’s department confirmed the request had been accepted.
“The attorney general has complied with this requirement and Mr Duggan’s lawyer has been informed of that decision,” the spokesperson said.
“The extradition matter is next listed before a NSW magistrate on 10 January 2023 and the extradition request will be handled consistently with the processes set out under the Extradition Act.
“As the matter is before a magistrate, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
Duggan’s lawyer, Dennis Miralis, has previously said the 54-year-old pilot will fight any extradition request, and resolutely maintains his innocence.
“He denies having breached any US law, any Australian law, any international law,” Miralis said earlier this month.
Duggan spent more than a decade flying in the US Marine Corps, reaching the rank of major and working as a military tactical flight instructor, according to his company website.
The indictment said Duggan was allegedly contracted directly by an unnamed co-conspirator – a Chinese national – to provide services to a Chinese state-owned company, including evaluations of Chinese military pilot trainees, testing of naval aviation related equipment, and instruction on tactics related to landing aircraft on aircraft carriers.
Duggan did not seek authorisation from the US government to provide military training to China, although the US state department had informed him by email in 2008 this was required to train members of a foreign air force, it said.
Duggan’s alleged violation of an arms embargo imposed on China by the United States also included providing aviation services in China in 2010, and providing an assessment of China’s aircraft carrier training, the indictment said.
Duggan’s arrest coincided with warnings from Australian and British authorities over the practice of former military pilots being offered lucrative contracts to train pilots in China.
