Former military pilot Dan Duggan suffering inhumane, degrading imprisonment by Australian authorities at the request of US. Albanese has refused to help Duggan and Julian Assange proving he is no more than a lap dog for the incompetent Joe Biden
  • Dan Duggan was a former military pilot who renounced his American citizenship some years ago and came to Australia.  
  • Authorities in the US have recently alleged Mr Duggan had breached money laundering and arms export control laws (over a decade ago) when he was training non-military pilots in South Africa.  The U.S. authorities are seeking his extradition to the U.S.
  • Duggan, a 54-year-old Australian citizen, was arrested on 21st October 2022 by federal police in the New South Wales town of Orange at the request of American authorities who accuse him of helping train the Chinese military to fly jet fighters.
  • Only three hours after he was scooped up by Australian Federal Police, Dan Duggan was on his way to Bathurst Correctional Centre. He would find himself not just in maximum security, solitary confinement – but in a dry cell.“A dry cell is one with no toilet or running water. Placement in a dry cell may be suitable for an inmate suspected of concealing contraband within a body cavity or an inmate who has refused to supply a urine sample. No inmate is to be placed in a dry cell for more than 24 hours,” Corrective Services NSW website states. Dan should never have been placed in a dry cell.  Worse still, he should not have been in a dry cell for two days.  Nobody should be. These are just two of the first breaches of Dan’s human rights that have been perpetrated on him.
  • Dan remained in Bathurst for about five days until he was transferred to Silverwater.
  • During this time, his lawyer Dennis Miralis did not know where he was. 
  • His wife and children did not know where he was. Yet Dan had not been charged with any offences in Australia.
  • Since then, no government agency has been in contact with the family to offer any assistance. 
  • Once a week, Dan’s kid’s make the 90 minute drive to Lithgow’s brutal, unwelcoming gaol where they are searched and prodded, sniffed by dogs and moved through a dozen security doors. They spend maybe an hour – if they are lucky – in a tiny glass encased room watched constantly by guards. 
  • Dan has no history of violence. 
  • This treatment of Dan apparently fulfils our extradition treaty with the U.S.  His treatment is not much different to Julian Assange – another one of Australia’s political prisoners on behalf of the U.S.A.
  • In a submission to the U.N. Human Rights Commission sent earlier this month, Mr Duggan’s lawyers say his treatment in prison – where he is confined in a two-by-four-metre cell – constitutes four breaches of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.The breaches include a failure to protect Mr Duggan from “inhumane or degrading” treatment, a failure to segregate him from convicted prisoners, the violation of his right to adequate facilities to prepare his legal defence, and a denial of his right to confidential communication.The submission cites a clinical psychologist who interviewed and assessed Mr Duggan in Sydney’s Silverwater prison and diagnosed him with severe adjustment disorder, anxiety and depression.”The psychologist described Mr Duggan’s conditions as ‘extreme’ and ‘inhumane’. He advised that Mr Duggan was at risk of a major depressive disorder,” the submission states.
  • Today, Dan Duggan will have been locked up in his own country, in maximum security solitary confinement on the say-so of the United States government for 12 months and 10 days (to October 31). This is an ongoing nightmare for this Australian family of eight.

Dan’s wife Saffrine and their six children are suffering badly – not only the loss of their husband and father from their daily lives, but the loss of income to care for them all and to help pay Dan’s legal expenses.  https://chuffed.org/project/freedanduggan-campaign 

Earlier this month, a court hearing determined that the court date scheduled for November  2023 will be deferred until May 2024.  This 7-month period will be used to seek material from Australian government agencies in defence and intelligence while Dan Duggan remains in maximum security prison.

Our Prime Minister (Albanese) refused to raise this issue with the USA President (Biden) on his recent visit to Washington.  Our Attorney General (Dreyfus) continues to remain silent on the matter.  

It is a very serious issue that the Australian government is treating Duggan (an Australian citizen) and his family in this very cruel and inhuman manner.

For the readers of Cairns News who would like to help the Duggan family, the best way to assist would be to contact the Federal Members of Parliament below and request them to have Australian Citizen Dan Duggan transferred to a minimum security facility until his matter is heard in May.  

In this request, please:

  1. Email the Prime Minister (Anthony Albanese) and express your concern about this matter to him – https://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm
  2. Email the Foreign Minister (Penny Wong) – senator.wong@aph.gov.au
  3. Email the Attorney General (Mark Dreyfus) – mark.dreyfus.mp@aph.gov.au
  4. Email your local member of parliament.  (https://www.aph.gov.au/senators_and_members/guidelines_for_contacting_senators_and_members)

If you could afford a donation and any ongoing support to help the family’s living costs and legal expenses, that would be most appreciated. – https://chuffed.org/project/freedanduggan-campaign 

I feel certain that the Duggan family would be most grateful if Dan’s transfer to a minimum security prison could be achieved.  This would certainly ease Dan and the Duggan family’s stress levels in this awful situation.

From a supporter