Japan Has No Plans to Send Former World Chess Champ to US For Now
Steve Herman
Tokyo
25 Aug 2004, 11:16 UTC
AP
American Bobby Fischer pauses before the start of fifth game in Sveti Stefan,
Yugoslavia
(File photo - Sept. 9, 1992)
Despite a ruling from Japan's Justice Ministry that former world chess champion
Bobby Fischer should be deported, immigration officials say there are no plans
to immediately send him to the United States.
One day after the Japanese Justice Ministry turned down Bobby Fischer's appeal
against deportation and rejected his request for political asylum, the
government says the chess player will likely sit in a detention cell outside
Tokyo for a while longer.
Mr. Fischer's attorney has filed an appeal and that means, Immigration Bureau
Assistant Director Hideharu Maruyama says, his fate is now in the hands of the
courts.
Mr. Maruyama says it is difficult to say how long legal proceedings could drag
on, so the Immigration Bureau cannot make a prediction on when Mr. Fischer will
be deported.
Some of his supporters vow to take Mr. Fischer's appeals to Japan's Supreme
Court if necessary.
The reclusive chess genius, the only American to ever hold the world title,
faces charges in the United States stemming from his 1992 rematch against Boris
Spassky in Sarajevo. By playing the match there, earning a reported $3 million,
Mr. Fischer violated United Nations economic sanctions then in place against
Yugoslavia.
Mr. Fischer has been detained in Japan since July 15, when he attempted to fly
to the Philippines on a revoked U.S. passport.
He has since tried a series of maneuvers to avoid deportation, including
attempting to marry the head of Japan's chess association and preparing to apply
for German citizenship.
A U.S. State Department spokesman on Tuesday said Mr. Fischer can expect a
second visit from a U.S. consular officer in the near future.
Mr. Fischer has been demanding such a visit, saying he wants to renounce his
U.S. citizenship. Legal experts say such a move would not prevent his
deportation or prosecution.
U.S. Embassy officials in Japan stress they have not demanded Mr. Fischer's
extradition. However, they acknowledge that unless he has a valid passport and
permission to enter a third country he would be deported to the United States
and taken into custody.
In his few public comments in recent years, Mr. Fischer, has repeatedly lashed
out at the United States and Jews, saying they are conspiring to ruin his life.
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