Canberra: His wife, Saffrine Duggan, called the imprisonment of her fighter pilot husband a "affront to Australia's rule of law," and said the family of detained Australian citizen and former US marine Daniel Duggan intends to petition the UN Human Rights Committee to intervene and stop his "inhumane treatment."
"The father of six children has been held in a tiny cell in Sydney under harsh conditions for 115 days without any conviction, based on unproven charges from the United States," she said, adding that despite having no prior criminal record, he is categorized as a "extreme high risk restricted inmate" at the Silverware Correctional Complex. She claimed that the cell is only two by four meters.
Duggan was detained in October on charges that he provided aviation services in China without the necessary authorization from the US State Department, including training Chinese military pilots to land on aircraft carriers, assessing Chinese military pilot trainees, and providing those services.
According to a 2017 indictment that was unsealed in the US in December, he is alleged to have received at least A$116,000 ($81,000) in 2011 and 2012 for the training work that took place at a flight academy in South Africa during a time when he was still an American citizen.
In 2012, he gave up his US citizenship and became an Australian citizen by naturalization.
In December, Canberra granted a request from the US for Duggan's extradition. Next month, he will have another hearing to determine whether he can be extradited. Duggan insists that he is innocent of all accusations.
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A previous complaint was made by Saffrine Duggan to the Australian Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security. Dennis Miralis, the attorney for her husband, bemoaned last week that the Australian and US governments had both been reluctant to turn over documents pertinent to the case "on the basis of secrecy provisions," suggesting that Duggan might have to bring his own legal action.
Dan vehemently denies all allegations that he is political in nature and politically motivated, according to his wife's statement. "His indictment is filled with outright fabrications, half-truths, and embellishments."
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The extradition agreement between Australia and the US stipulates that the alleged offense must be criminal in both countries and forbids extradition if the charges are of a "political character."
