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A former U.S. Marine Corps pilot may have been “lured” from China to Australia by security agencies before his arrest, his lawyer said outside court on Monday after an extradition hearing in Sydney.
Daniel Duggan, 54, is facing extradition to the United States on charges of breaking U.S. law by training Chinese military pilots to land on aircraft carriers.
He was arrested by Australian federal police in a rural town in New South Wales state in October, shortly after returning from China, where he had lived since 2014.
In the same week, Britain had issued a warning to its former defense staff not to train Chinese People’s Liberation Army pilots at a South African flying academy where Duggan had also worked.
On Monday, Duggan’s extradition case was adjourned until May, as his lawyers seek access to documents from Australian government agencies for his defense.
Outside court, Duggan’s lawyer Dennis Miralis said the pilot had been “security cleared” by the Australian Security and Intelligence Organization in relation to an aviation lisence in Australia before he returned from China, but an arrest warrant was issued while he was on the plane home and his security clearance was revoked.
