A former US military pilot arrested in Australia and facing likely extradition on undisclosed charges had arrived from China weeks before and interacted with Australian intelligence agencies, his lawyer said yesterday.
Daniel Edmund Duggan, 54, was arrested last month in Orange, a city in a rural part of New South Wales, by federal police acting on a US request for his arrest.
Details of the US arrest warrant and the charges Duggan faces are sealed, his lawyer said.
Photo: AFP
Consequently, the specifics of Duggan’s case, or why he might have interacted with Australian intelligence, is difficult to determine.
Duggan, a former US citizen and ex-US Marines Corp pilot, had been working in China as an aviation consultant since 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile and aviation sources who knew him.
He is now an Australian citizen. His lawyer, Dennis Miralis, said that Duggan is to be moved to a maximum security prison in Goulburn, and did not seek bail at a court hearing in Sydney.
The matter was adjourned until Nov. 28.
“He denies having breached any US law, any Australian law, any international law,” Miralis said outside the court.
Miralis told the court he would lodge a complaint with the Australian Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security about matters that touch on Australia’s national security.
Outside the court, Miralis told media that Duggan had returned from China “a few weeks prior to his arrest, and in the intervening period a number of interactions occurred with those agencies that the inspector-general of intelligence has the capacity to investigate.”
Miralis did not name the specific agencies, provide details on what was under investigation or Duggan’s alleged role in the matter.
He said the US should not make an extradition request to Australia until this complaint was resolved.
Under Australia’s treaty with the US, an extradition request must be made within 60 days of arrest.
“Mr Duggan at the moment is not accused of anything under Australian law. It’s important to understand the legal system in Australia has not yet seized jurisdiction of the matter. We are more in the area of international relations, and it is a decision for the United States state department to determine whether or not it wishes to send an extradition request to Australia,” Miralis said.
Duggan separately said that China had interfered with his human rights and freedom of movement in China.
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