CANBERRA, Australia — In a landmark ruling that keeps an extradition process on track, an Australian federal judge has rejected a legal challenge from a former U.S. Marine Corps pilot fighting his transfer to U.S. authorities, who accuse the aviator of leading illegal training for Chinese military personnel more than 10 years ago.
Fifty-seven-year-old Daniel Duggan, a Boston-born former pilot who had been residing in Australia before his 2022 arrest, stands accused of conducting unlicensed training for Chinese military aircrew while working as an instructor for South Africa’s Test Flying Academy between 2010 and 2012, according to a U.S. indictment. Duggan has repeatedly denied all charges against him, arguing the accusations are nothing more than political maneuvering and that he has been unfairly targeted by U.S. authorities.
Federal Court Justice James Stellios handed down his ruling Thursday, confirming that no legal or jurisdictional error was committed by former Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus when he approved Duggan’s extradition earlier in 2024. The judge’s decision to dismiss the appeal clears a major legal hurdle for the extradition process.
Speaking to reporters outside the Canberra courthouse immediately after the ruling, Saffrine Duggan — Daniel Duggan’s wife and mother to their six children — said the defendant’s legal team would explore all available avenues to challenge the extradition order. The team has also formally requested that current Attorney-General Michelle Rowland, Dreyfus’s successor, overturn the extradition approval.
“We are deeply disappointed by this outcome, and we will take time to carefully assess every legal option open to us,” Saffrine Duggan told reporters. “Make no mistake: we are not backing down. Today’s ruling does not mark the end of our fight for justice.”
In a formal statement released after the judgment, a spokesperson for Rowland’s office acknowledged the court’s ruling and confirmed that Duggan will remain in Australian extradition detention until he is formally transferred to U.S. custody.
The case against Duggan originated from a 2016 indictment issued by the U.S. District Court in Washington, which remained sealed until it was unsealed in late 2022. Prosecutors claim Duggan received roughly 88,000 Australian dollars, equal to around 61,000 U.S. dollars, split across nine separate payments from a co-conspirator, in addition to covering travel costs to the U.S., South Africa and China. Prosecutors note that much of this travel was labeled as “personal development training” to mask the true nature of the work, according to the indictment.
Since his arrest in 2022 at a grocery store near his New South Wales family home, Duggan has been held in maximum-security detention in Australia, a status that will continue following Thursday’s ruling.