The fight for Dan Duggan - Part 1: From 'Top Gun' to wanted man
4/26/202616 min
In October 2022, Dan Duggan was arrested at a Woolworths in Orange, regional New South Wales, after dropping his kids off at school.
American prosecutors claim the former US Marine pilot helped train Chinese military pilots in South Africa more than a decade ago, in breach of US arms trafficking laws. Duggan denies that, and says he believed he was involved in lawful civilian flight training.
He’s now facing extradition to the United States.
But before the arrest, the charges, and before the extradition fight, Duggan was living as an Australian citizen, running a flight business in Tasmania, and building a life with his wife Saffrine and their children.
Today, Dan Duggan’s wife, Saffrine Duggan on her husband’s fight for freedom from jail, and journalist and member of the Free Dan Duggan Campaign, Michael Sainsbury, on how an Australian pilot became the target of US prosecution.
This is part one of a two-part episode.
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Guest: Saffrine Duggan and journalist and member of the Free Dan Duggan campaign Michael Sainsbury.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSaffrine Duggan· Guest0:00
The day Dan was arrested was, um, t- the hardest day I thought in my lifetime, um, ever. [gentle music] First, I was off to work and Dan was dropping the kids at school. Dan had a cake in his hand, was giving it to the kids and, um, off he dropped them to school. He went to Woolworths because he was gonna cook dinner in the evening, grabbed a few things, and that's when he was arrested.
Nicole Johnston· Host0:36
In October 2022, officers from the Australian Federal Police arrested Daniel Duggan in Orange in regional New South Wales. His wife, Safrene, was waiting to meet him for coffee.
Saffrine Duggan· Guest0:49
Well, the irony is that Dan is always on time. H- his family comes first. So I'd waited 10 minutes for him to call me, and I'd sent numerous messages on his phone. Then it got into maybe half an hour. I was so concerned, I was just about to call the police to say, "I'm really worried about my husband. Something might have happened to him," and then he called me. I, I said, "Well, what are you talking about? I don't understand." Like, "What do you mean you've been arrested?" Like, "For what? W- what could you possibly have been arrested for?" You know, this is a man that's never had, that never had a parking fine. I've had more parking fines than