The flight school where former marine Daniel Duggan allegedly helped train Chinese fighter pilots insists all of his teaching was legal, in line with international standards and “totally unclassified”.
Duggan, 54, a former US marine pilot who is now a naturalised Australian, was arrested in October at the request of the US government, which is seeking his extradition on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering arising from his alleged training of Chinese fighter pilots at a South African flight school more than a decade ago.
The allegations have not been tested in court.
Duggan, who has not been charged with a crime in Australia and has no criminal history anywhere in the world, denies the charges and is fighting his extradition from prison, a process that could take months or years to resolve.
The father of six faces a potential 60-year prison term if convicted in the US.
The flight school where he taught after resigning from the US Marines – the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA) – says it has strict protocols and a code of conduct to ensure no information is shared that might be legally or operationally sensitive – or security classified.
“All TFASA training materials have always been either open source or provided by clients. The syllabus of the course that Mr Duggan was part of delivering was in line with international standards and totally unclassified,” a spokesperson for TFASA told Guardian Australia.
Asked whether TFASA believed Duggan’s fulfilment of his contract was in keeping with his, and the flight school’s, legal obligations, a spokesperson said: “Yes. TFASA has always complied with its legal obligations and worked hard to ensure the same of any and all employees or contractors.”
The spokesperson said: “TFASA has had no contact whatsoever with Mr Duggan since the conclusion of the single contract he undertook for the company 10 years ago.”
Duggan has been imprisoned for 277 days while he fights extradition and has faced significant isolation, having been classified as a high-risk prisoner.
In March, Australia’s inspector general of intelligence and security (IGIS) launched a formal investigation into Duggan’s ongoing incarceration and the circumstances of his arrest, after allegations were raised by his legal team he may have been “lured” back to Australia by intelligence officials before his arrest.
Duggan’s case returns to court on Tuesday. Barrister Bret Walker SC is expected to appear for Duggan and to argue extradition proceedings should be temporarily stayed while the IGIS investigation is under way.
If that argument is successful, Duggan’s legal team expects to make an application for him to be released on bail.
Duggan told the ABC’s 7.30 the allegations against him were false.
“I strenuously reject the indictment in its entirety… I’ve done nothing wrong.”
He said the pilots he trained were not members of the Chinese military, but were “civilian test pilots”.
Duggan reiterated earlier statements he held little faith in the US justice system if he were extradited.
US-born Duggan served more than a decade flying in the US Marine Corps, rising to the rank of major and working as a military tactical flight instructor.
He left the military in 2002 and moved to Australia, becoming an Australian citizen in 2012 and renouncing his US citizenship in 2017. He has lived in Australia and China since leaving the US Marines.
A 2017 US grand jury indictment alleges Duggan trained Chinese pilots to land fighter jets on aircraft carriers, in defiance of arms trafficking laws, and engaged in a conspiracy to launder money.
The indictment details payments Duggan allegedly received in 2011 and 2012 for allegedly training Chinese fighter pilots at a test flight academy “based in South Africa with a presence in the People’s Republic of China”.
Duggan “provided military training to PRC pilots”, according the indictment, including “instruction on the tactics, techniques and procedures associated with launching aircraft from, and landing aircraft on, a naval aircraft carrier”.
The indictment says he failed to obtain authorisation from the US state department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls to export defence services or providing training to Chinese nationals, as he had been instructed was required.
Duggan’s legal team has maintained the US extradition request was politically motivated and catalysed by the US’s deepening geopolitical contest with China. Australia’s extradition treaty with the US states that extradition requests should be refused if they are for an alleged “political offence”.
