A legal decision in Madrid has brought the controversial case closer to a courtroom, while supporters warn it could criminalize aid and solidarity.
The Spanish government has authorized the United States’ extradition request for James “Fergie” Chambers, an American millionaire and donor to humanitarian projects in Gaza, to be sent to court. The decision opens the judicial stage of the case and brings a possible extradition closer.
As noted by CNN
On July 10, Spanish authorities detained Chambers on the island of Ibiza. He was traveling with his partner and son to inspect schools. The arrest was made on the basis of an Interpol Red Notice issued at the request of the United States, Chambers’ lawyer, Baltasar Garzón, said.
Forty-one-year-old Chambers inherited part of the fortune of media conglomerate Cox Media and sold his assets for approximately $250 million three years ago. He has long supported Palestinian rights and funded humanitarian projects in Gaza, including a bakery, a community kitchen, mobile medical clinics, and reconstructive surgeries for children injured during the war.
Chambers is currently being held at Aranjuez prison near Madrid. He has also applied for asylum in Spain.
What the United States accuses James Chambers of
The indictment in the case is classified. According to his lawyer, U.S. prosecutors accuse Chambers of money laundering, rioting, and conspiracy to organize riots.
Garzón claims the funds were used to pay off the football club’s debts, pay salaries, and cover Chambers’ personal expenses. According to him, the money did not come from illegal sources, so the transfer does not meet the definition of money laundering under Spanish law.
The lawyer also stated that his client was not in Massachusetts during the protest but was in Atlanta, Georgia. Four participants in the New Hampshire demonstration received 60-day prison sentences. If convicted, Chambers could face up to five years in prison on the riot and conspiracy charges.
Defense calls case politically motivated
The defense considers the prosecution politically motivated. Garzón links it to Chambers’ support for Palestine, his criticism of the United States, and the Donald Trump administration’s policies toward the International Criminal Court and Palestinian human rights organizations.
We must respect the decision of the Council of Ministers. However, it sets a dangerous precedent for defending the Palestinian cause.
– Baltasar Garzón
According to the lawyer, Spain cannot simultaneously defend international law, the rights of the Palestinian people, and those providing humanitarian aid while allowing an extradition request bearing signs of political persecution to be considered.
Government representative Elma Saiz called the Council of Ministers’ decision purely procedural. She said that Chambers would have all the necessary procedural guarantees during the review of the request by the National Court, and that a final decision would be made after the court’s opinion was published.
The left-wing Sumar coalition, which is part of the governing majority, called for the extradition to be blocked. Its deputy parliamentary spokesperson, Enrique Santiago, described the case as the criminalization of solidarity with Palestine. Ione Belarra, secretary-general of the left-wing Podemos party, said Chambers had become the first political prisoner in Spain’s history to be jailed for supporting Palestine.
Relations between the Donald Trump administration and the government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez have remained tense in recent months. At the same time, there is currently no independent confirmation of the defense’s claims that the prosecution is politically motivated.
Chambers’ partner, American actress Stella Schnabel, is in the third month of pregnancy with their second child.
Fergie may spend the first year of our child’s life unable to hold them and seeing them only through glass, even though he has not been found guilty of any crime.
– Stella Schnabel
The U.S. request will now be reviewed by Spain’s National Court. After its decision, the country’s government must make a final decision on Chambers’ possible extradition.