Daniel Duggan: Former US fighter pilot arrested in Australia over China training allegations ‘singled out,’ lawyer says

Lawyers for former US Marines pilot Daniel Duggan said he was “selected” for extradition to the US to face charges of training Chinese military pilots, despite other Australians provided military service to foreign nations.

Australia’s attorney general last month accepted an extradition request from Washington for Duggan, who was arrested in rural Australia in October. He remains in custody in Sydney and his next court date is on February 13.

Duggan is accused of training Chinese pilots to land on aircraft carriers, and faces charges of money laundering and violating US arms control laws in the United States. according to the 2017 indictment unsealed in December.

He was arrested the same week when Britain announced its crackdown on former military pilots training Chinese pilots.

Duggan’s lawyer, Dennis Miralis, said outside a Sydney court on Tuesday that Duggan “objects and denies” the US charges and intends to oppose the extradition request.

He told reporters: “In our view, it is clear that he was singled out in the event that the Department of Defense admits that it knows many Australian nationals who have performed overseas duties in areas of the United States. jurisdictions differ from foreign states of a military nature.

The defense secretary’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Australia has launched a review of former Self-Defense Force personnel’s obligations to protect national secrets, after it was reported that Australians were among Western military pilots who had been approached to help train them. Chinese military training.

Duggan is arrested in rural Australia in October after returning from China, where he has lived since 2014.

He became an Australian citizen after serving 12 years in the Marines and later renounced his US citizenship.

The final decision on Duggan’s handover will be made by the attorney general after the court decides whether he is eligible for extradition, Miralis said.