We are extremely disappointment and distressed that the NSW Department of Corrections has now told us that it's powerless to grant Dan home detention. Please consider making a small donation to help us pay the bills and fight for Dan’s freedom: https://chuffed.org/project/freedanduggan-campaign
Unbelievably, in an official letter the Department said it was powerless to release Dan into home detention with an ankle bracelet because: “you have not been charged or sentenced with an offence under a commonwealth or state law of Australia, home detention (or its equivalent) is not an option.” Dan will remain in solitary confinement at maximum security Lithgow Correctional Centre where he has languished for almost 15 months
This is counterintuitive and cruel. Dan has already been in these inhumane conditions for too long without any Australian charges, no criminal record and no history of violence. He has no right to bail under the Extradition Act, except in “exceptional circumstances” that nobody understands the meaning of.
Unbelievably in free society that claims to believe in the presumption of innocence and the principle of innocent until proven guilty, this basic human right is thrown out under the merciless Extradition Act.
This Act apparently allows Australian citizens to be locked up without charge indefinitely on the say so of a foreign government.
The Department’s letter said: “You have been arrested and remanded in extradition custody under the Commonwealth Extradition Act 1988 (the Extradition Act),'' the unnamed Director, Parliamentary and Executive Services (NSW Department of Corrections) wrote in response to a personally written request from Dan to the NSW Corrections Commissioner. Home detention is not a condition of custody - it is a sentencing option. Given you have not been charged or sentenced with an offence under a commonwealth or state law of Australia, home detention ( or its equivalent) is not an option.”
The reasons appear to directly contradict previous correspondence from the Federal Attorney-General’s Department, the Australian authority responsible for Duggan’s “arrest”.
“…I note that, when a person is arrested under the Extradition Act, they are held in extradition custody in the state or territory where they were arrested,” Toni Burgess A/g Assistant Secretary, International Cooperation Unit, Department of Foreign Affairs wrote in response for information about who was responsible for the condition of Dan’s imprisonment.
“Custodial decisions about the person’s location, conditions and treatment are matters for the relevant state or territory authorities and the Australian Government is not involved in this process. Accordingly, any concerns about Mr Duggan’s treatment in custody should be raised with New South Wales Corrective Services,:” Burgess added.
Please consider writing to Dan: Daniel Duggan, c/- Lithgow Correctional Centre PO Box 666, Lithgow NSW 2790.
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