Pro-Palestine philanthropist faces US extradition hearing in Spain
James "Fergie" Chambers, a pro-Palestine philanthropist, faces extradition to the United States in Spain, where his wife has urged Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to grant asylum.
Madrid, Spain – The wife of a pro-Palestine philanthropist who faces extradition to the United States has urged the Spanish prime minister to grant asylum, to save him from being sent to his own country. Chambers is the first US citizen to face extradition to their own country. He is accused of supporting Hamas, an allegation apparently linked to a money laundering charge and donations that he made to support Palestinians in Gaza.
Political Asylum Request
"I am pleading with [Spanish Prime Minister Pedro] Sanchez to use his powers to ensure Fergie's political asylum claim is expedited for urgent consideration by the panel of ministers. This is within his gift. If he chooses not to act, he risks enabling [US President Donald] Trump to establish a precedent in Spain and across Europe which criminalises solidarity with the Palestinian people," Stella Schnabel told Al Jazeera.
Spain's National Court will hear evidence from the US authorities on Thursday and a final decision will be made later. Chambers, a left-wing activist with a reported $250m net worth, is also facing charges of riot and conspiracy to riot relating to a protest at an Israeli arms company in 2023 in the US, for which he could face up to 30 years of imprisonment.
Charges and Arrest
The self-proclaimed anti-imperialist denies any wrongdoing. Chambers was arrested in July in Ibiza as he and his partner, Schnabel, an actress, searched for a school for their son, after Interpol issued a Red Notice for his detention. Since his arrest, he has claimed asylum, alleging he is the victim of political persecution.
Chambers cannot be extradited until the asylum claim is resolved, and if it is successful, he cannot be extradited. The US government's case centres on Chambers's alleged laundering of $7.5m, which he is said to have wired several years ago from a US bank account to Tunisia, where he lived at the time, allegedly using the cash to support Hamas.
Mistranslation Claims
Schnabel said in an earlier interview with Al Jazeera that the money was to support Club Africain, a Tunisian football club, to pay off its debts and overdue salaries, to reconstruct a training centre and build pitches for youth sides. Lawyers for Chambers said mistranslations between the US criminal charge in English and the version presented to Spanish authorities in Spanish make the allegations seem more serious.
It's important to highlight that the US administration has not charged Fergie with material support for or financing terrorism or any terror-related offences, nor presented a shred of evidence that even a single cent has been used for violent or terrorist acts.
The alleged mistranslations, which relate to protests in 2003 in the United States that targeted the US-based facilities of Elbit Systems, Israel's largest weapons manufacturer, changed "direct action" to "direct violence". Lawyers also said there is no reference to violence in the original US criminal complaint, but the translated version submitted to Spanish authorities mentions "three fires" even though no fires are mentioned in the original text.
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