A Spanish prosecutor on Friday defended in court a U.S. request to extradite James Cox Chambers Jr, a media tycoon and donor to Palestinian causes who stands accused of money laundering, the Spanish media reported.
“The request is not based on mere ideology or political statements, but on an organized, financed, and executed action that caused significant material damage, the assessment of which falls to the competent U.S. court,” El Pais quoted public prosecutor Juan Hernández Villalba as telling the National Court (“Audiencia Nacional”) in Madrid.
“We are not targeting people for opinions favorable to Palestine or opposed to Israel,” the prosecutor added, countering claims by Chambers that his arrest in Ibiza in July was political persecution.
In addition to money laundering, Chambers is accused of conspiring to stage a riot, in reference to his alleged financing of violent protests outside facilities in the U.S. belonging to or in business with Elbit Systems, the Israeli defense contractor.
“I am being accused of terrorism when I have never participated in or had any contact with any violent activity, nor have I had any contact with or financed any terrorist organization,” El Pais quoted Chambers as saying.
