Spain Accused of Violating Extradition Treaty in Fergie Chambers Case
Authorities secretly transferred Fergie Chambers’ phone to the FBI despite written assurances, adding to mounting allegations of procedural abuses and political persecution.
To add to the legal abuses in the case of jailed activist Fergie Chambers, it was recently reported that despite written assurances, Spanish authorities secretly handed Chambers' phone to the FBI without notifying his lawyers or allowing them to challenge the transfer. This raises serious due process concerns and, according to Chambers’ lawyers, violates the US–Spain Extradition Treaty which permits transfer of possessions only after an extradition has been granted.
The transfer of the phone also raises concerns about breaches of attorney–client privilege and violation of protections associated with his pending asylum application.
Chambers’ lawyer Baltasar Garzón has previously highlighted that:
- No US grand jury had issued an indictment before extradition was sought.
- Spanish prosecutors themselves introduced the terrorism allegations absent from the US charges.
- The US sought Chambers’ arrest through an Interpol diffusion sent directly to Spain, bypassing the independent scrutiny associated with a formal Red Notice.
Chambers was arrested by Spanish police in Ibiza on July 10 at the request of the Trump administration.
Spanish authorities are currently holding Chambers without bail or outside contact while the US government seeks his extradition to Washington on charges of "international money laundering" and providing "material support to foreign terrorist organizations."
Chambers, who divested from his family's Cox Enterprises fortune to fund international solidarity work, has donated millions to humanitarian projects in Gaza and pro-Palestine media outlets.
The sealed US indictment provides no evidence linking Chambers to any banned organisations. Instead, US prosecutors point solely to ordinary bank transfers Chambers made from the US to Tunisia, where he used his wealth to fund local businesses, sponsor a Tunisian football team, and pay the bail and legal fees of working-class left-wing activists.
Follow for more updates at freefergie.substack.com to keep abreast of the latest developments in the case.
