The US government corrupted translations of documents it sent to Spain, to “exaggerate the severity of the charges” against US left-winger and anti-genocide activist Fergie Chambers.
Chambers’s lawyers ILOCAD say they have identified twelve “substantial” changes to extradition documentation, for example changing “direct action” to “direct violence” and the “activation” of smoke canisters to “detonation”.
Political persecution
Chambers’s legal team says that the Trump regime is pursuing Chambers for his political activities and is representing donations to Palestinian humanitarian charities as ‘money laundering’ and ‘support for Hamas’. Trump’s DOJ also claims he was involved in ‘rioting’, referring to anti-genocide protests in the US.
To its shame, the Spanish government appears to be cooperating with the extradition demand, allowing it to proceed to the Spanish court system.
Over 150 high-profile figures have written to the Spanish government, demanding action to block the extradition:
This is a case of political persecution directed solely against a committed humanitarian… [you must] prevent this extradition and grant Fergie international protection through the recognition of his right to political asylum.
Signatories include actors Liam Cunningham, Richard Gere, Cynthia Nixon, Marcia Cross, Jemima Kirke, Hannah Einbinder and Natasha Lyonne, as well as musicians Brian Eno, Paloma Faith and Bob Vylan, and former Manchester United star Eric Cantona. Activists Greta Thunberg, Judith Butler and Angela Davis also put their name to the letter.
The US government’s dishonesty in the case mirrors that of its attempts to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Government lawyers pursued Assange despite their star – indeed, only real – witness admitting he had been lying all along. UK judges should have laughed them out of court, but shamefully kept allowing the case to continue until Assange was eventually freed after agreeing a plea deal.
A court hearing on Trump’s extradition demand is scheduled for 13 November, but extradition cannot proceed until Chambers’s application for political asylum is decided.
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