Australia's attorney general announced Monday the upcoming extradition to the United States of a former US navy pilot accused of illegally training Chinese soldiers, with the pilot's family calling the decision “inhumane”.
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Daniel Edmund Duggan was arrested in Australia in October 2022 at the request of the US government, which accuses him of violating the arms control law.
American authorities accuse him of illegally training Chinese military pilots between 2010 and 2012, after his departure from the navy. Mr Duggan has denied the accusations.
Mark Dreyfus, the Attorney General of Australia, announced Monday that Mr. Duggan “should be extradited to the United States to face prosecution for the offenses with which he is accused,” without specifying the date of the extradition.
His family is “shocked and heartbroken,” Saffrine, Edmund Duggan’s wife, said in a statement.
It is a “cruel and inhuman decision which was transmitted just before Christmas, without explanation or justification from the government,” she continued.
The family has been informed that the extradition is expected to take place between December 30, 2024 and February 17, 2025.
Lawyers for Edmund Duggan and his family are reviewing their remaining legal options.
Mr. Duggan's case arrived at the attorney general's office in May, when an Australian court ruled that the pilot could be extradited to the United States.
A highly regarded aircraft pilot, Mr. Duggan spent 12 years in the United States Navy, where he rose to the rank of major and worked as a tactical flight instructor.
Behind bars for 26 months according to his family, this father of six moved to Australia in 2002 after leaving the navy. He obtained Australian citizenship and worked at a leisure flying company called Top Gun Tasmania.
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