From the RJF COMMITTEE – Iceland: 1-29-05
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:
“Unfortunately, the Icelandic authority’s 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.”
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
150 Reykjavik – Iceland
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)
signed this 19th day of January at Ushiku, Japan.