Key facts
- The US extradition request lists riot, conspiracy to commit riot and international money laundering, the court heard.
- Prosecutor Juan Hernandez Villalba said the request rests on an organized, financed and executed action that caused material damage.
- Chambers' lawyer Aitor Martinez said the New Hampshire damage cases were misdemeanors carrying a 60-day sentence, below the treaty's one-year threshold.
- Chambers has said he was present at the 2023 New Hampshire protests against Elbit Systems but caused no damage.
- Chambers said he transferred his own money to Tunisia to fund his company's sponsorship of Club Africain and a gym.
- The US Department of Justice declined to comment on the case.
A Spanish prosecutor expressed support on November 13, 2026 for a US request to extradite James Cox Chambers Jr, a pro-Palestinian donor and multimillionaire US media heir, in a case his defense says is politically motivated. Spain's High Court will rule in coming weeks, and government spokesperson Elma Saiz has said the cabinet would then make the final determination.
Chambers, known as Fergie, was arrested at the request of US authorities on July 10 while on holiday in Ibiza and has been held since then. The extradition request lists riot, conspiracy to commit riot and international money laundering, the court heard. The riot reference relates to 2023 protests by pro-Palestinian activists against Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems in New Hampshire.
Prosecutor Juan Hernandez Villalba told the court: "The extradition request is not based on mere ideology or political statements, but on an organised, financed and executed action that caused significant material damage and the evaluation of which corresponds to the competent US court." Chambers has said he was present at the protests but caused no damage, and that he transferred his own money to Tunisia, where he was living, to fund his company's sponsorship of Tunisian soccer club Club Africain as well as a gym.
Chambers has denied wrongdoing, applied for asylum in Spain on the grounds of political persecution and refused on November 13 to consent to extradition. Under Spanish law, extradition cannot proceed if a request is found to be politically motivated. His lawyer Aitor Martinez said even the people who carried out the damage in New Hampshire were convicted of misdemeanors, an offence carrying a 60-day sentence that falls below the one-year threshold of the US-Spain extradition treaty.
According to his legal team, Chambers has donated over $1 million to humanitarian causes in Gaza and paid legal fees for some members of the activist group Palestine Action. The US Department of Justice has declined to comment on the case against Chambers, whose father is James Cox Chambers, billionaire part-owner of Cox Enterprises. The case is politically sensitive for Spain's Socialist-led government, known for its pro-Palestinian stance, which has drawn rebuke from the Trump administration and contributed to wider tensions with Washington.