SYDNEY (AP) – The US has accused a former navy pilot of illegally coaching Chinese language navy pilots and is in search of to extradite him from Australia.
However the pilot’s legal professional says his shopper was wrongly singled out over the present geopolitical battle between the US and China.
Pilot Daniel Duggan, 54, has been in an Australian jail since his arrest in October. Duggan’s legal professional Dennis Miralis advised a Sydney courtroom on Tuesday that Duggan denies the allegations and can proceed to combat the extradition course of at each flip.
Australia’s Lawyer Basic Mark Dreyfus accepted the US extradition request final month. However earlier than extradition can proceed, a decide should first decide whether or not Duggan qualifies for extradition underneath Australian regulation.
Miralis stated the US Division of Protection admitted there have been different individuals serving to international militaries, however that the US and Australia singled out Duggan for extradition.
“We’re involved that this underscores the political nature of what’s occurring right here,” Miralis advised reporters.
A 2016 indictment from the US District Courtroom in Washington, DC was not too long ago unsealed. In it, prosecutors say Duggan was a US Marine Corps officer and a naval aviator. They are saying Duggan conspired with others to supply coaching to Chinese language navy pilots in 2010 and 2012, and probably different instances, with out making use of for a license to take action.
Prosecutors say Duggan obtained about 9 funds totaling about A$88,000 (US$61,000) and international journey from one other conspirator for what has generally been described as “private growth coaching.”
The indictment states that Duggan traveled to the USA, China and South Africa and educated Chinese language pilots in South Africa.
Miralis stated Duggan “denies and denies” the allegations.
“It needs to be remembered that underneath US regulation Mr. Duggan is presumed harmless. He’s presumed harmless underneath Australian regulation,” Miralis stated.
Miralis stated his shopper confronted inhumane and unacceptable dwelling circumstances on the Silverwater Correctional Advanced, the place he was held with convicted felons and categorized as an especially high-risk inmate.
“Mr. Duggan stays underneath extraordinary stress because of the present restrictions,” Miralis stated.
He stated Duggan has not been capable of see his six kids since he was taken into custody three months in the past.
Duggan stated on his LinkedIn profile that in 2017 he turned common supervisor of AVIBIZ Restricted, “a complete consulting agency targeted on the fast-growing and dynamic Chinese language aerospace trade.” AVIBIZ is predicated in Qingdao, a metropolis within the japanese province of Shandong.
Duggan stated he served 13 years within the US Marine Corps till 2002. Throughout his service he turned an AV-8B Harrier fighter pilot and flight teacher.
Primarily based in Australia from 2005 to 2014, he based and have become Chief Pilot of High Gun Tasmania, a Tasmania-based firm that supplied pleasure flights in a British BAC Jet Provost navy jet coach and a Chinese language CJ-6A propeller-driven navy coach Nanchang .
He moved to Beijing in 2014. It isn’t clear if he was nonetheless dwelling in China or what he was doing in Australia when he was arrested.
The US has had an extradition treaty with Australia since 1976.