Fergie Chambers Denies Wrongdoing as Spanish Court Weighs US Extradition Request
James "Fergie" Chambers denies any wrongdoing in the United States case against him, and a Spanish court is now considering whether he should be sent there. Spain's National Court was to hear evidence from US authorities on Thursday, and a final decision on extradition, the transfer of a person to another country to face charges, will be made later.
Chambers was arrested in July in Ibiza. His arrest followed an Interpol Red Notice, a international alert that asks police forces around the world to locate and detain a person. After he was taken into custody, Chambers claimed asylum in Spain, saying he is the victim of political persecution. Asylum is protection a country can offer someone who says they cannot safely return home.
The US charges against him are riot and conspiracy to riot, relating to a 2023 protest at an Israeli arms company. He could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
The wider US case centres on the alleged laundering of $7.5 million wired from a US bank account to Tunisia, allegedly to support Hamas. Chambers's wife and partner, Stella Schnabel, who is described as an actress, has given a different account of the money. She said it was meant for the Tunisian football club Club Africain, to pay debts and overdue salaries, and to reconstruct a training centre and build pitches for youth sides.
Schnabel has urged Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to grant Chambers political asylum. She also asked him to expedite urgent consideration of the asylum claim by a panel of ministers.
Chambers's lawyers have raised concerns about the language of the case file. They said the Spanish translation of the US criminal complaint changed "direct action" to "direct violence", and changed the "activation" of smoke canisters to "detonation". According to the lawyers, the translation also added "three fires" that do not appear in the original complaint, and replaced "global terrorism game" with "global terrorism activities".
