Tuesday, March 15, 2005 at 19:08 JST
TOKYO — Japanese immigration authorities said Tuesday
that U.S. chess legend Bobby Fischer can only be
deported to the United States and not Iceland as
demanded by the former world champion.
"We have determined that Fischer's case does not warrant
being treated as an exceptional case in our deportation
procedures," said Masaharu Miura, head of the Justice
Ministry's Immigration Bureau.
Speaking before the House of Councillors' Committee on
Foreign Affairs and Defense, Miura said, "The basic
principle for deportation is to deport the person
concerned to his home country as is stated in the
immigration law."
Under this provision, any person subject to deportation
shall be deported to a country of which he or she is a
national. If that is not possible, a person can be
deported to another country according to his or her
desire.
Fischer, 62, has been detained for eight months at an
immigration detention facility near Tokyo for carrying
what U.S. authorities say is an invalid U.S. passport.
But he and his supporters have argued his passport was
illegally revoked and have been fighting deportation to
the United States.
"We judge it based on the situation of the person
involved and the home country...on a case-to-case
basis," Miura said without elaborating.
Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, present at the
hearing, said Japan has not received any requests from
the United States on Fischer's case and refrained from
commenting further as the case is "on trial."
The two were responding to questions by Kazuya Shimba,
an upper house member of the main opposition Democratic
Party of Japan.
Fischer's case has attracted international media
attention since it broke in summer last year, with many
developments unfolding such as his lawsuits, refugee
application and engagement to a Japanese woman.
He has been wanted by the United States since winning a
$3 million rematch in Yugoslavia against Boris Spassky
in 1992 when Yugoslavia was under U.N. economic
sanctions and Washington had barred its nationals from
economic activity there.
Iceland has issued a passport for Fischer to stay in
Iceland, which he has accepted.
Fischer believes he will not receive a fair trial in the
United States, having made controversial statements such
as those hailing the Sept 11, 2001 attacks. (Kyodo News)
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