Extradition confusion

For those of you that were a little confused about the outcome of Dan’s hearing on the 24th May - you were not alone. It’s taken me a bit of time to get my head around the proceedings. Dan’s legal team decided it was not the right forum to fight the extradition order. There , unfortunately, was no opportunity to put an argument forward, it was a process of ticking boxes. Australia have signed Dan over for extradition to the US.

The only person with any power to hear the entirety of Dan’s case is Attorney General Mark Dreyfus.

The family and Dan’s legal; team are now on a finite amount of time to present their case to the Attorney General. Below I have attached a copy of my draft sent to question and implore the Attorney General to review this case under Australian law.

If you have a few minutes please see the draft of my letter sent, as an example.

Email’s can be sent to the Attorney General, Senator Penny Wong and your local MP. You can find contact details for your local Federal MP or one of your Senators, here visit: https://electorate.aec.gov.au/ and Mark Dreyfus email is: attorney@ag.gov.au 

Sign the petition for the Attorney General here: https://www.change.org/p/release-my-husband-australian-daniel-duggan-and-refuse-his-extradition-to-the-us

Below you can hear Saffrine, Dan’s wife, speak outside the court after the decision on the 24th.

Thank you for taking the time to support and the Duggan’s in their fight for a fair trial for Dan.

A draft of my letter to Attorney General Mark Dreyfus:

Mordialloc, VIC, 3195 

Sent via email to attorney@ag.gov.au  

June, 2024

Dear Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, 

I am writing to draw your attention to the plight of the Duggan family and to request that you do not approve the extradition of Daniel Duggan, an Australian father of six.  

As a concerned citizen I feel devastated by this situation.

Dan has been held in solitary confinement in Lithgow Correctional Centre since October 2022. He faces no charges in Australia and the 12-year-old allegations against him by the United States seem to be politically motivated. They were brought about at a time when the relations between the United States and China soured.  

Dan is accused of training Chinese pilots as an instructor at a South African flight school. This training of civilians took place in 2012, when he was an Australian citizen. This was not against the law in Australia in 2012, nor is it now.  

The United States has crushed the rights of an Australian citizen by having him incarcerated in a 2x4m cell in solitary confinement for more than 19 months. He has access to visitors for one hour per week, is only sometimes allowed outside and was denied a computer to prepare for his extradition hearing.  

To make matters even worse, the United States have seized his wife’s Australian property (her only substantial asset) which she was trying to sell to pay for not only his defence, but to raise their six school age children.  

I am shocked that something like this has happened in Australia. The sovereignty of Australia is at stake if we let the US government dictate to us and take our own citizens off Australian streets to persecute them as political prisoners.   

I ask that you reject the US extradition request and allow Dan to come home to his wife and kids. Enough is enough.

Yours Sincerely,

Melinda Keily

** The above letter is a draft of my letter.

Dan Duggan and the fight for freedom

The Duggan family are coming to terms with Dan facing an extradition hearing in just 7 3 weeks 3 days now (Friday 24th May), despite legal aid not being approved.

The Magistrate Daniel Reiss denied this Australian citizen’s application to delay the extradition hearing even though his legal team, led by Bernard Collaery, clearly demonstrated that he needed more time to get Legal Aid after the United States blocked the sale of Saffrine’s property in December. The property was in the process of being sold to pay for legal bills.

You can access more details here including some words from Dan’s counsel outside the court.
The most important thing right now is assisting The Duggan family financially so that Dan can have a fair trial. Dan’s now spent 542 570 days far too long in solitary confinement here in Australia, without any local charges. This alone is inhumane!

There is a way you can support:

• buy a Bird for Freedom and have your support & name hand printed & stitched into Dan’s Freedom Quilt as a keepsake for the Duggan family (see below) or donate and make an anonymous contribution.

This quilt aims to provide comfort to Dan & the Duggan family and help provide some much-needed funds to support Saffrine and the children as well as Dan’s legal defense.

I will be individually printing each golden Bird for Freedom and we will be hand stitching names of individuals, family’s or community groups into Dan's quilt, as a symbol of support for Dan and his right to a fair trial and his freedom.

Buy a Bird for Freedom:

$500 - GOLD

You can buy one as an individual or rally your friends and all chip in towards a bird.

However, if $500 is above your nominated range, any amount is greatly appreciated, every cent helps!

Please transfer your nominated amount to the following account with reference ‘freedom quilt’ in the descrition:

Name: FDD Fundraising 

BSB: 062-667 

Account number: 1059 1974

Once done, if you would like your name added to the quilt please email proof of purchase to melindakeilyquilts[at]gmail.com (at = @) with the name you would like added. Maximum letter count per Bird is 10 letters, including symbols.

 For more information about Dan’s story, visit: https://freedanduggan.org/ and see my previous post.

Thank you. x

Free Dan Duggan

I came across Dan Duggan’s story at a wedding in January 2023. During the evening I connected with a friend I hadn’t seen since pre Covid. Emma told me about her friend, Dan Duggan, who was in maximum security solitary confinement and had been detained there for months.

Dan & his wife, Saffrine, are great friends of Emma’s. Em was heartbroken for the impossibility of Dan’s imprisonment and the untenable nature with which he was being held.

Fast forward another 6 months and I met up with Emma again. We got to talking about Dan and I learnt he was STILL being held in maximum security solitary confinement awaiting extradition by the U S for apparently training Chinese Military to fly, 10 years ago, in South Africa.

Dan is an ex US Marine who became an Australian Citizen when he married Saffrine 12 years ago. They have 6 school aged children & live in country NSW. The morning Dan was taken  by the AFP he had dropped his kids to school &  was on his way to meet Saffrine. He never showed up.

It took 3 months of imprisonment before Dan was even informed of his charges. He was and remains in deep shock & complete disbelief at this living nightmare - a shock shared by his wife and children. They also bare the huge weight of grief, anger and financial strain. It’s currently over 330 400 500 days now that Dan has been locked in a 2 x 4m cell, alone. It’s a human rights abuse.

The Australian government are holding him at the here-say of the US. There have been no local charges and there is no know reason for Dan to be held in these conditions. If extradited Dan faces 65 years imprisonment at the hands of the US. It’s unfathomable yet this is very real and happening to a man missed terribly by his family, right here in Australia.

Watch the 7.30 Report interview for more information.

Ways you can help:

• Sign the petition here.

• Donate to help cover the huge mounting legal fees and support Saffrine as she raises their 6 kids solo while Dan is incarcerated.

• Write to Attorney General Mark Dreyfus and request Dan’s release mark.dreyfus.mp@aph.gov.au

• Write to your local representative to ask for Dan’s release. Search here.

• Take a photo of yourself holding a #freedanduggan sign and post it to your socials. Tag @freedanduggannow #freedanduggan

• Write to Dan. Solitary confinement would have a profound impact on every one of our mental health. Help Dan’s mental health with a letter that lets him know he’s not forgotten. Daniel Duggan C/O Lithgow Correctional Centra, PO Box 666, Lithgow, NSW 2790

Follow, repost, donate, talk to others….. we all have ways we can help from where we are. No movement of support is too small.

I am making the above quilt for Dan, which I’ll keep you updated on via Instagram @melindakeilyquilts Saffrine has chosen to feature the Duggan tartan and we are working on a design that represents Dan, Saffrine and their 6 kids via the poppies - each representing a family member. We’ll also incorporate pieces of clothing from the family that mean something about Dan to each member. It’s a quilt for Freedom to let Dan know he is not forgotten. It’s our intention that Dan can wrap himself in the love and support of this quilt.

If you would like to be a part of Dan’s Freedom Quilt please see the above post for details.

Find out more about Dan’s freedom campaign:

Free Dan Duggan Campaign website

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Emma (left) & Saffrine (right) met at uni in the 90’s.