From:

http://www.freebobbyfischer.net

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Bobby Fischer Battles On

New appeal, refugee claim, 1st asylum offer


Aug. 3, 2004 (TOKYO) The Committee to Free Bobby Fischer announced on
Tuesday that Fischer's lawyer, Ms Masako Suzuki, has completed her
submissions for his appeal to Japan's Justice Minister. The written
appeal to the minister is the next step in fighting his deportation on
false US allegations that his passport is invalid. The appeal to the
minister follows a two-day oral appeal made to the Immigration Bureau
over Friday, July 23 and Tuesday, July 27 that was summarily rejected.
The oral appeal was made in response to a July 15 Immigration Bureau
deportation decision that was scandalously printed and sealed even
before Fischer's first hearing was convened.


The current written appeal to the minister says that due process has
been denied to Bobby Fischer by a politically motivated US effort to
unlawfully revoke his passport retroactively, and by the illegal
seizure and destruction of his passport by a man who visited the
airport jail, would not give his last name, but claimed to be a US
consul. The legal filings also state that what Japanese officials are
calling a "deportation" is in fact an effort to extradite Fischer in
violation of the Japan-US Extradition Treaty. Under the treaty,
Fischer could never be extradited for his December 15, 1992 US
indictment under a US presidential sanctions order against Yugoslavia.
Extradition is not possible because the alleged crime (of playing a
game of chess) is not also a crime in Japan. Fischer played a
championship chess match in Yugoslavia despite receiving a written
warning from the US government in 1992. His action was an intentional
political protest against the US sanctions on Yugoslavia. Bobby
Fischer specifically played in Yugoslavia, after for many years
declining numerous offers to play matches around the globe following
his 1972 world championship victory.


In addition to pointing out that Fischer has been denied his US legal
right of appeal to any revocation of his passport, lawyer Suzuki says
the political nature of the US persecution of Fischer makes him
eligible for refugee status in Japan.



Fischer initiated a refugee claim on Monday, August 2. That claim is
separate and distinct from his appeal of the deportation order and has
its own series of procedures.


Appeals to the Justice Minister usually take no less than several
weeks and often run into months. Refugee claims can take years. There
is now no likelihood of any quick deportation if Japanese and
international law is respected.


Bobby Fischer has also started the process to apply a second time for
a Provisional Release from the jail at Narita Airport, which is about
an hour east of Tokyo by commuter train. After being assaulted during
his July 13 "kidnapping," Bobby was roughed up again the next day when
he was forced to meet with an unidentified person who said his first
name was "Peter" and that he came from the "embassy". It is now 21
days since Bobby Fischer was seized and locked up. He has not been
allowed to see the sun or to get any outdoor exercise or fresh air.
Fischer, who is 61 and a nonsmoker, is also forced to endure jail
conditions in which other prisoners are allowed to smoke cigarettes
all day in a common detention area. This mistreatment is especially
glaring considering the fact that it is illegal to smoke a cigarette
outdoors in central Tokyo. His access to the telephone is restricted
and visitors, including his support committee, are only allowed to
speak to him for 30 minutes a day and have to travel over two hours by
train for each visit. His provisional release request is backed by a
personal guarantee from Mr. Ichiji Ishii, a former vice Foreign
Minister of Japan. The continuing denial of a provisional release
constitutes unwarranted and inhumane mistreatment of Fischer, who has
not been convicted of any crime.


The Committee to Free Bobby Fischer is continuing to contact
independent countries around the world to seek safe havens for Bobby
Fischer from US political persecution. The first public response has
come from President Filip Vujanovic of the Republic of Montenegro,
which hosted the 1992 chess tournament at its resort island of Sveti
Stefan.


About one week ago, John Bosnitch, who heads the Committee to Free
Bobby Fischer, proposed a list of over 20 countries that might be most
likely to come quickly to the aid of Bobby Fischer. Scanning the list,
Fischer picked Serbia and Montenegro as his first choice. The
intellectual art of chess is a national passion in Serbia and
Montenegro, and the people of the country recognize the terrible
sacrifice that Bobby Fischer has made for them over the past 12 years
for standing up against the sanctions on Yugoslavia in 1992. Acting on
Bobby's request, Bosnitch initiated contact with Montenegrin officials
through a respected Montenegrin academic based in Japan. The Committee
is now making further contact with Montenegro to determine the precise
details of the asylum offer. The Committee is also pursuing other
asylum options and is continuing to assemble the original
documentation of Fischer's current, existing German citizenship.


John Bosnitch says, "Japan's scandalous detention of one of the
greatest living human intellects can only become a bigger and bigger
national embarrassment. The story of the ordeal of Bobby Fischer is
top news around the world. It is being published and broadcast in
North and South America, Asia, Europe, Africa and across the Pacific.
Coming just as the Japanese government has announced a new initiative
to seek a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, the
continuing mistreatment of chess legend Bobby Fischer can only give a
most unflattering impression of Japan to the entire international
community. Millions are watching."

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--
banana "The thing I hate about you, Rowntree, is the way you
give Coca-Cola to your scum, and your best teddy-bear to
Oxfam, and expect us to lick your frigid fingers for the
rest of your frigid life." (Mick Travis, 'If...', 1968)