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Be seein' ya real soon Bobby boy. :)

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  • Be seein' ya real soon Bobby boy. :)

    Japan Refuses to Free Chess Great Fischer

    1 hour, 42 minutes ago

    Add to My Yahoo! World - AP Asia

    By AUDREY McAVOY, Associated Press Writer

    TOKYO - Japanese authorities refused to free Bobby Fischer even though Iceland has issued a passport to the chess great, who is stressed and fatigued after eight months of immigration detention, his lawyers and supporters said Monday.

    Photo
    AFP/File Photo

    Related Links
    • Bobby Fischer Web Sites


    Japan ordered Fischer deported to the United States after catching him trying to board a flight for the Philippines with an invalid U.S. passport in July. Fischer, who turns 62 on Wednesday, is wanted by Washington for violating U.S. sanctions against Yugoslavia by playing a chess match there in 1992.

    "He is at the end of his rope, physically and mentally," said his fiancee, Miyoko Watai, who heads the Japan Chess Federation.

    Watai said Fischer, who became world chess champion in his 1972 match in Iceland against Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union, was placed in solitary confinement for four days through Sunday after fighting with guards who refused to give him an egg for breakfast. Watai and other Fischer supporters gave varying accounts of the dispute, and immigration officials were unavailable for comment.

    Supporters said Fischer's lawyer had picked up his passport at the Icelandic embassy and his plane ticket had been bought.

    "We are talking about a human tragedy in the making here in Japan," said Gudmundur Thorarinsson, a former member of Iceland's parliament who met with Fischer Monday. "What he did was to play chess in Yugoslavia. He sought asylum in Japan because he loved Japan and the Japanese people. But the Japanese have kept him in a detention center for nearly eight months."

    Fischer initially challenged the deportation order in court and then sought political asylum from Japan, which refused his application. He is now seeking to have the destination of the deportation order changed to Iceland.

    On Sunday, a Japanese newspaper reported that U.S. prosecutors are also building a case against Fischer for alleged tax evasion. It said the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (news - web sites) is expected to seek a grand jury indictment against Fischer and charge him with five counts of tax evasion. The grand jury is set to start April 5.

    Contacted concerning the case, an IRS spokesman said federal privacy laws prohibit the agency from commenting on individual taxpayers or audits.

    If Fischer is indicted, Japan would be obligated to send him to the United States under a bilateral treaty. Fischer had not been informed of any such charges, his supporters said.

    The Icelandic passport gives Fischer special permission to travel to 15 Western European countries. But Fischer must first win approval to leave the detention center.

    "Legally, there is no reason why he can't leave the country for Iceland," said his lawyer, Takeshi Ohashi. "We demand the government release him as soon as possible."

  • #2
    Rediculous. If he's guilty of tax evasion, get him on that, but going to Yugoslavia to play in a chess match is hardly something to prosecute over. If we didn't prosecute Jane Fonda for her acts of treason, then there is no reason to prosecute Fischer for something that a normal person wouldn't get into trouble for (Americans go to Cuba from third nations all the time, and have for many years).

    Comment


    • #3
      Most people who go to the "wrong" country keeps a low profile. Mr Fisher publicly thumbed his nose at the U.S. government. The U.S. government can keep a grudge longer than an old church lady. Just ask Cuba.
      Removing a single turd from the cesspool doesn't make any difference.

      Comment


      • #4
        Wooohooo!!!!
        No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
        I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
        even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
        He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

        Comment


        • #5
          I thought one of the nice things people like about America is that we are supposed to be able to freely come and go whenever we want to. I don't see the point in the government limiting what countries we can travel to. This is simply an unjust limitation of our personal freedoms. I remember that the same argument was applied to the Soviet Union in saying that its citizens had restrictions on where they could travel. So isn't it hypocritical that we should have similar restrictions?

          All I can say about going to Japan is that it is an extremely xenophobic country. People don't want foreigners there at all, and that is one of the reasons why their economy is faltering. They need some immigration to bring up their economy since birth rates are falling.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by barrowaj
            I thought one of the nice things people like about America is that we are supposed to be able to freely come and go whenever we want to. I don't see the point in the government limiting what countries we can travel to. This is simply an unjust limitation of our personal freedoms. I remember that the same argument was applied to the Soviet Union in saying that its citizens had restrictions on where they could travel. So isn't it hypocritical that we should have similar restrictions?

            All I can say about going to Japan is that it is an extremely xenophobic country. People don't want foreigners there at all, and that is one of the reasons why their economy is faltering. They need some immigration to bring up their economy since birth rates are falling.
            There was a UN embargo, which included sanctions on sports events. Economic sanctions trump a game everytime.
            No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
            I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
            even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
            He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

            Comment


            • #7
              Why did we have economic sanctions on Yugoslavia at the time anyway? IIRC, there was an Olympics held there in the 80s...

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by barrowaj
                Why did we have economic sanctions on Yugoslavia at the time anyway? IIRC, there was an Olympics held there in the 80s...
                It had to do with the wars, same old stuff there, and after the reformation to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia they also defaulted on billions in loans. There's probably more to it than that, but that's what I recall.
                No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
                I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
                even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
                He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

                Comment

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