A total of thirteen political formations to the left of the PSOE, including Més per Mallorca, ERC, Sumar, Podemos, EH Bildu, Compromís, CUP, BNG, Izquierda Unida, Comuns, Adelante Andalucía, Somos Asturies, and Más Madrid, have called on Pedro Sánchez’s government not to authorize the extradition of the American millionaire, pro-Palestinian activist, who remains in pretrial detention in the Eivissa prison since his arrest last Friday.
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The representatives of these formations have submitted a letter addressed to the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, Félix Bolaños, in which they argue that handing over Chambers would mean collaborating in a political persecution related to his activism in favor of the Palestinian cause.
The heir to the Cox Enterprises fortune and owner of a millionaire estate was arrested in Eivissa in compliance with an international arrest warrant issued by the United States. After appearing before the Spanish judicial authority, he was admitted to prison while the extradition procedure requested by the U.S. authorities is processed. The detainee has already been brought before the National Court, which will decide on the extradition.
The United States is investigating Chambers for alleged money laundering crimes and for supposed material support to organizations considered terrorist under U.S. law. According to the judicial documents known so far, the investigation is related to financial transfers intended for entities linked to pro-Palestinian movements. Both his family environment and his lawyers reject the accusations and maintain that the businessman has exclusively financed humanitarian projects and civil organizations supporting the Palestinian population, denouncing that this is a case of political persecution driven by the Donald Trump administration due to his public positions on Gaza.
The signatories ask the Government not to be complicit in political persecution
The letter is signed, among others, by Laure Vega (CUP), Gabriel Rufián and Ana Balsera (ERC), Gerardo Pisarello and Andrés García Berrio (Comuns-Sumar), Lluís Apesteguia and Vicenç Vidal (Més per Mallorca), Isaura Navarro and Àgueda Micó (Compromís), Oskar Matute, Diana Urrea and Irati Jiménez (EH Bildu), Néstor Rego and Montserrat Prado (BNG), Covadonga Tomé (Somos Asturies), Enrique Santiago and Delia Campomanes (IU-Convocatoria por Asturies), José Ignacio García (Adelante Andalucía), Ione Besara (Podemos) and Tesh Sidi (Más Madrid).
In the document, the signatories recall that the passive extradition procedure in Spain does not imply that the Government is obliged to carry out the handover even if it is authorized by the National Court. They point out that Spanish legislation allows denying an extradition when there are reasons to consider that the request aims to punish a person for their political opinions.
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They claim that the Palestinian cause is criminalized with the terrorism accusation
They also recall that the Constitution excludes extradition for political crimes and that the bilateral treaty between Spain and the United States contemplates the possibility of rejecting a handover when there are indications of political persecution.
The formations argue that the terrorism accusation cannot be used to criminalize humanitarian support or political activism in favor of Palestine. “Solidarity with Palestine does not constitute any crime. Nor can it be equated, without concrete and individualized evidence of financing violent acts, to financing terrorism,” the letter states.
They recall that Spain recognized the Palestinian state in 2024
The document also frames the case within the position maintained by various Spanish institutions regarding the Middle East conflict. It recalls that Spain officially recognized the State of Palestine in May 2024 and calls on the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice to prevent the handover of Chambers to the United States and that no administrative or governmental action contributes to an extradition they consider motivated by political reasons. “The fight against terrorism cannot be used as an instrument to persecute the denunciation of genocide, solidarity with an occupied people, or support for humanitarian and social initiatives,” the letter concludes.
The initiative represents the first coordinated state-level political support for Chambers since he entered the Eivissa prison and comes after his family launched a public campaign to denounce that the extradition request constitutes an attempt to silence one of the main funders of international organizations and movements supporting Palestine.
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