A former U.S. Marines pilot was taken into custody in Australia.
By Kirsty Neham
SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Daniel Duggan’s lawyer said that he was being extradited to the United States to face charges for training Chinese military fliers. However, other Australians have provided military service to foreign countries.
Australia’s attorney general accepted a Washington extradition request last month for Duggan. Duggan was arrested in rural Australia in Oct. Duggan is still in custody in Sydney and his next court date will be on February 13.
According to a December 2017 indictment, Duggan was accused of training Chinese pilots in landing on aircraft carriers. He also faces charges of money laundering, violating U.S. arms control laws, and other offenses.
The arrest came as Britain announced a crackdown against former military pilots who trained Chinese fliers.
Dennis Miralis, Duggan’s lawyer, stated outside a Sydney court Tuesday that Duggan “contests” and denies the U.S. claims and intended to contest any extradition request.
He stated that he believed he was singled out by the Department of Defence in circumstances in which it admitted to having known of Australian citizens who had performed foreign service in other countries with military-oriented foreign states.
The office of the defence minister did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
After reports that Australians had been among those who were approached by the Chinese military to train their military, Australia began a review of the state secrets protection obligations for former Defence Force personnel.
Duggan was returned from China and arrested in rural Australia on October 7, after he had been there since 2014.
After 12 years of service in the Marines, he became an Australian citizen and then renounced his U.S. citizenship.
Miralis stated that the attorney-general would make the final decision on Duggan’s surrender after the court has determined whether he is eligible for extradition.
(Reporting done by Kirsty needham. Gerry Doyle edits