|
|||||||||||||||||
|
Chessville
Advertise to Single insert:
|
Bobby Fischer (12/15/2004) BOBBY FISCHER HAS BEEN GRANTED RESIDENCE PERMIT IN ICELAND
With regards, EINAR S. EINARSSONInternational Affairs Liaison, ICF We here in Iceland are quite concerned about the fate of former world chess champion Bobby Fischer and have formed a special, the The RJF Committee Iceland in support for his freedom from his detention in Japan. Among member of this committee is GM Helgi Olafsson, and G. Thorarinsson, chief organizer of the Fischer – Spassky match in 1972. Lilja Grétarsdóttir president of ICF and more. Bobby telephones Mr. Saemi Palsson, his old buddy and “bodyguard” on daily basis,so we follow his situation under harsh circumstances very closely. Bobby has written private letter to our foreign minister Mr. David Oddsson, former prime minister at a chess fan and asked for a residence permit in Iceland, which is being considered. On the Cannel 2 (Stöd2) television news on Dec 13th at 18:30 gmt ( in 45 minutes) there was an telephone interview with Mr. Fischer followed be some discussions by two members of our group. Mr. Saemi Palsson his and GM Helgi Ólafsson. The interview with Bobby can be watched at: http://www.visir.is/Default.aspx?PageID=34veftivi and select>: : Ísland i dag. Visitors have open the calender and select 13.12.2004 to connect to the program vidtal vid Bobby Fischer. The interview carried out by Pall Magnusson is in two parts, discussions with GM. Helgi Ólafsson and Saemi Pálsson in Icelandic are in between. The latter part is about Fischer Random and resent article by Kasparov. For your information. With best regards, Einar
(12/20/2004) This evening there was a new interview with Bobby Fischer, this time at RUV, the Icel. State TV. You can watch it by going to: http://www.ruv.is/; Then click: Sjonvarpid (TV) (20.Dec.); 19.00 Frettir (news); Dvalarleyfi Fischers (Residence Permit).
We at the RJF Committee have heard a lot from Bobby in the last few day. He has of course accepted to have a residence visa I Iceland and is very Enthusiastic, getting quite impatient and wants to get out of the detention facility in Japan asap. He might be here in couple of weeks only. For your information. I have received the following message with brief but very Interesting comments on Iceland's move from my old friend Boris Spassky, former world champion:
An interview with David Oddsson, 17.12.2004 on the RUV = THE ICELANDIC STATE RADIO RUV: Intro.: Mr. David Oddsson the foreign minister says that his ministry has not been approached be US authorities with any complaints, statements or inquires of any kind concerning the invitation of the Iceland government to grant Bobby Fischer a residence permit on Iceland. David says that if Bobby participation in the match in Yugoslavia in 1902 has been a violation of the UN embargo enforced upon Yugoslavia in 1992 then according to Icelandic law it has no validation now because of statute of limitations.
Mr. Oddsson told the
American Ambassador about the decision last Wednesday. He points out
that Iceland supported the UN embargo just like USA in 1992. Interview David Oddsson foreign minister:
Mr. Oddsson sees not objection to Fischer’s girlfriend traveling with him to Iceland:
Head of the International House in Reykjavík expressed happiness that international refugees can find a kind of haven here on humanitarian grounds. It is blatantly clear that Fischer is getting a special treatment. Mr. Oddsson:
*(Mr. V. Ashkenazy, the world famous conductor and pianist, who defected from the USSR, he is married to an Icelandic lady. )
(12/22/2004)
BOBBY FISCHER NEWS RELEASE: The Committee to Free Bobby Fischer appealed to the Japanese
government to free Bobby Fischer after Iceland announced that it will accept
him as a resident, even if he arrives without a passport. The letter: (1/16/05) Six months in a Japanese prison over a passport Guðmundur G. Thórarinsson writes about Bobby Fischer’s affairs: “The international chess community must certainly vilify the Japanese and criticize them no less than it does the Americans.” By now Bobby Fischer has sat in jail in Japan for six months over an invalid passport. He is allowed to go outdoors for 45 minutes a day, five days a week. He suffers from chronic and worsening headaches and dizzy spells. It must certainly represent a dubious honor for the Japanese legal system if its behavior results in permanent damage to the chess master’s health. When Fischer’s assisstant approached the Japanese bureaucracy asking for an answer to the question of how long they intend to hold him there, the official replied, “We can keep him as long as we like. We can eat him if we choose to.”
His crime is that he played chess in Yugoslavia in violation of the economic sanctions then in force. It has now come to light that the only person in the world to have been indicted for a violation of this regulation – a regulation that has long since ceased to be in force, and a violation committed in a country that no longer exists – is Robert James Fischer. Former US President Bill Clinton says, in his newly published autobiography, that the Americans passed this regulation knowing that numerous parties were selling weapons to the Balkan nations but that no charges were filed in those cases because of the great shortage of weapons in the region. Neither were artists indicted when they worked there. But the world champion played chess in Yugoslavia, with the result that a warrant for his arrest has been issued in every legal precinct in the United States. The case is so serious in the eyes of the Americans that there is no statute of limitations on the crime. The punishment is a ten-year prison sentence. Bobby Fischer had his passport renewed in 1997; therefore, it had not expired. The United States sent e-mails to a host of countries, informing them that Fischer’s passport had been revoked, but they conveniently forgot to inform Fischer himself. In God’s own country, that haven of individual rights, this detail was forgotten. That fact nullifies the revocation of the passport according to American law because Fischer had the right of protest.
Davíð Oddsson’s handling of
Fischer’s case has enhanced his image in the eyes of many people all over
the world. Wouldn’t it be right to issue Fischer an Icelandic passport
of the type that foreign citizens are able to obtain? Were this
accomplished, it would hardly be possible to hold the man in prison on the
premise that his passport is invalid. Fischer has expressed an interest in playing chess with Icelandic young people and “Fischer chess” with Icelandic grand masters. Would anyone care to hazard a guess as to what position posterity will take on the United States and Japan’s behavior in Fischer’s case? — Guðmundur G. Thórarinsson Guðmundur G. Thórarinsson
writes about Bobby Fischer’s affairs. The author is a former Member of
the Icelandic Parliament and the former president of the Icelandic Chess
Federation. In 1972 Mr. Thórarinsson was the chief organizer of the Match of
the Century between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. Translated by
Anna Benassi.
Reykjavík, 15 Janury 2005 The situation in the Bobby Fischer affair against the US and Japanese Authorities seem s to be a stalemate, at least for the time being. Bobby has now been held in detention in Ushiku, the immigration lock-up in Japan, for almost six months. A month has passed since the former world champion was granted a residence visa in Iceland without tangible progress.The US Embassy in Reykjavik has still not bothered to answer formal questions about the matter from the RJF Committee, neither has it given any explanation or information asked for in an open letter to the US Ambassador Gadsden. Although the Japanese Justice Minister Chieko Nohno mumbled yes-yes some three weeks ago and promised to consider Bobby's handwritten plea to the Japanese authorities from his detention cell to be allowed to go to Iceland, nothing has happened. "I also agree to withdraw my lawsuits pending at the Tokyo
District Court once the destination of my deportation order is changed to
Iceland," Bobby wrote. "Generally speaking, Nohno said, the
destination of his deportation will be the United States but we will
consider his wishes and whether he has a country willing to accept him as we
decide where to deport him". The Japanese Authorities are clearly
drawing their legs under pressure from the US. Bobby continues to call members of our group on a daily basis, especially his old pal Saemi "Rock" Palsson, former policeman and famous rock dancer. Still Bobby is taking this harsh and hostile treatment admirably well. But understandably he is getting physically exhausted by this very lengthy, six months proceeding over a passport. He suffers from frequent headaches and dizziness .When Fischer's assistant approached the Japanese
Justice Authority asking for an answer to the question of how long they
intended to hold him there, a high ranking official is quoted to have replied, "We can keep him as long as
we like. We can eat him if we choose to." Bobby was quite
amused when Saemi told him of this last and very strange remark and had a
good laugh. From the RJF COMMITTEE – Iceland: BOBBY FISCHER APPLIES FOR ICELANDIC CITIZENSHIP
This morning a formal letter from Bobby Fischer, former world chess champion, to the Icelandic Parliament, requesting Icelandic citizenship, arrived by fax. Mr. Halldor Blöndal, President of Althingi kindly received 2 members of our group with a very short notice, where Bobby´s handwritten letter was presented and discussed very positively in an hour long meeting. Later on today it was submitted by Mr. Blöndal to the Directorate Commission of the Parliament, which decided to place it for the General Committee, where it will be on the agenda in its first meeting later this week after the midvinter intermission. Last week the Japanese Justice authorities turned down Bobby´s plea to release him from detention and let him go to Iceland. In his letter Bobby thanks the Icelandic Nation for its friendship and writes:
A special law is required to grant Fischer an Icelandic citizenship. The autmosphere for Bobby´s request is quite positive as he is considered to be a part af Iceland´s modern Saga. Still handling of this special matter may take some weeks but at least a week or two as a minimum. There is a precedent for such a speedy handling. Reykjavik, Monday, January 23, 2005, by Einar S.
Einarsson
Transcript of Bobby Fischer's letter to the Icelandic Parliment (to view the actual hand-written letter, click on the following: Page 1; Page 2; Page 3): Ushiku, Japan, January 19, 2005 ALTHINGI The Icelandic
Parliament Honorable members of Althingi: I undersigned, Robert James Fischer, sincerely thank the Icelandic Nation for the friendship it has shown to me ever since I came to your country many years ago and competed for the title of World Champion in chess – and even before that. I would like to take the liberty of presenting the following request to Althingi. For the past 6 months I have been forcibly and illegally imprisoned in Japan on the completly false and ludicrous grounds that I entered Japan on April 15, 2004 and that I “departed” or attempted to depart Japan on July 13, 2004 with an invalid passport. During this period my health has steadily deteriorated. I´ve been dizzy all of the time for about the past 2 months now. Incidentally, it´s been very carefully blacked out in the press but it just so happens that I´m the very oldest prisoner here in the East Japan Immigration Detention Center. Not to mention the fact that when the Narita Airport Immigration Security authorities brutally and violently “arrested” me (actually it was nothing but a kidnapping and everybody knows it) I was seriously injured and very nearly killed. Furhermore it is surely not beneficial to my health either physically or psycologically that they´ve dragged me here to Ushiku which is only about 66 kilometers from the leaking Tokaimura nuclear power plant (Japan´s Chernobyl!) in Tokyo City. They just had another nuclear accident there on Ocober 14, 2004! And now, unfortunately, the Icelandic authorities recent offer of residence and of entry to Iceland without a passport has not sufficed to prompt the hardheaded and hard-hearted Japanese authorities/kidnappers to let me go to your excellent country. In case you’re wondering why I have no U.S. passport it´s because within 24 hours of “arresting” me the U.S. and Japanese authorities working in collusion illegally confiscated and physically destroyed my perfectly valid U.S. passport # 27792702! Neither the Japanese nor the American authorities have ever bothered to offer any explanation or justification whatsoever for this outrageous criminal act. Apparantly they´re strictly heeding Disraeli´s advice which was to: “Never apologize, never explain!” Because of all the foregoing I would therefore like to formally request that Althingi grant me Icelandic citizenship so that I may actually enjoy the offer of residence in Iceland that your Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. David Oddsson has so graciously extended to me.
Robert James Fischer
(born
9 March 1943)
(2/23/2005) From the RJF COMMITTEE – Iceland: ICELANDIC PASSPORT FOR BOBBY FISCHER
But travel documents is what counts, not political declarations. Hopefully this important move will break the deadlock of this absurd affair and generate Bobby’s release after 7 months of hardship for the former world champion in confinement at Narita airport immigration camp. In spite the official formality of this case, it seems in fact have been a battle between Bobby Fischer and the United States, driven by some politically incorrect views of Bobby on the events of 9/11 2001 and on the influence of Jews in America today, affecting negatively The Palestinian People among other negative influences. After Iceland offered Bobby Fischer a residency, the US protested immediately at a special meeting with the Icelandic Minister of Foreign affairs. After that meeting the Icelandic officials were stopped from continuing the inevitable paperwork and passport issuance that should have followed the kind offer right away. When a stalemate had lasted for more than a month, Bobby Fischer requested a formal citizenship that took the whole case to a new and a higher level. Now the Icelandic Parliament was suddenly put in the position of answering the question whether it wanted to involve the country formally into the matter or deny Mr. Fischer a citizenship. After weeks of discussion in the Parliamentarian Committee that deals with citizenships, it gradually seemed more and more likely that when taking the matter to a formal vote in the floor, a majority of the parliamentarians would vote in Bobby’s. favour. Instead of taking the case that far, the Icelandic Government finally decided it would be better for its relation with Japan and USA to give Bobby an Icelandic ID number and a valid passport to travel to Iceland, where he had already been offered a residency.
Latest News: FISCHER´S NEW PASSPORT WILL NOT BE DELIVERED TO HIM WHILE IN JAIL The Icelandic Ambassador Mr. Oskarsson in Japan has commented that he has received “clear and strict orders” from the Iceland´s Foreign Office not to deliver Bobby Fischer his new Icelandic passport until he has been released from prison by the Japanese Authorities or his case in the Japan Justice system has been resolved. Neither will his passport be delivered to his lawyer or supporters. Mr. Fischer will have to pick it up himself at the Icelandic Embassy in Tokyo or have it possibly delivered to him when he is outside the Ushiku, immigration lock-up. An Icelandic delegation headed by Sæmi Palsson, Fischer´s old buddy accompanied by a television crew will depart for Japan tomorrow.
|
Advertisement
The Chessville
The
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
.jpg)
For
twelve years, this lonely genius has been exiled from his homeland, bereft
of friends and family. And in a case that has few, if any, parallels,
he has sat in jail for six months because his passport is invalid
