EXTRADITION

The transfer of an accused from one state or country to another state or country that seeks to place the accused on trial.

Bobby Fischer Escapes Extradition to the U.S.

Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer escaped extradition to the United States by Japanese officials when the nation of Iceland agreed to grant him citizenship in March 2005. U.S. officials had sought Fischer's arrest since 1992, when Fischer violated federal law by playing a chess match in the former Yugoslavia.

Fischer grew up in New York and began playing chess at the age of six. He gained celebrity for his chess-playing ability as a teenager, becoming the youngest grandmaster in history by the age of 15. Reports indicate that Fischer led a secluded lifestyle and played chess constantly. Fischer became a cold war icon when he faced Boris Spassky in a match in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1972. After he defeated Spassky, Fischer appeared the covers of such publications as Time, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated. Prior to that time, the Soviet Union had dominated the chess world, producing every world champion from 1948 to 1971.

Fischer defaulted his world title to Anatoly Karpov in 1975 after the International Chess Federation refused to comply with all of the 179 demands that Fischer had made in order to agree to the match. Fischer spent much of the 1970s and 1980s living in seclusion in Pasadena, California. He reportedly became more enigmatic, once having the fillings in his mouth removed in order to "prevent the Soviets from beaming in malignant waves." Although chess masters often sought Fischer out for counsel, he has remained withdrawn.

In 1977, Congress enacted the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. §§1701 et seq. . This statute permits the president to issue orders that prohibit transactions in foreign exchange with another country. These orders may be issued where the president finds that a country presents an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to the United States. On June 5, 1992, President George Herbert Walker Bush signed Executive Order 12810, which prohibited transactions with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The order came as a result of Yugoslavia's role in conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Later that year, chess organizers convinced Fischer to face Spassky in a rematch of their 1972 battle, this time in Yugoslavia. Officials within the Treasury Department warned Fischer in a letter that U.S. policy forbids him from being involved in "business or commercial activities" in Yugoslavia. Officials believed that Fischer's involvement in the match amounted to an "exportation of services to Yugoslavia in the sense that the Yugoslav sponsor is benefiting from the use of your name and reputation," according to the Treasury Department's letter.

Fischer responded to the letter by spitting on it in public. He defeated Spassky again in what was billed as the "World Chess Championship Match" and received $3.3 million. In November 1992, a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an indictment, charging Fischer with performing a contract in Yugoslavia. A U.S. magistrate

judge issued an arrest warrant for Fischer in December 1992.

For more than a decade, Fischer stayed out of the U.S., moving among such countries as Japan, the Philippines, and Hungary. He became an outspoken critic of U.S. policy. Hours after the September 11th attacks in 2001, Fischer cheered the terrorists' actions on a Filipino radio station, saying the attacks were "wonderful news."

The American Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, issued a passport to Fischer in January 1997 that was valid through 2007. The Department of Justice and the Homeland Security Department contacted the Department of State in 2003 in an effort to revoke Fischer's passport. Shortly thereafter, the Department of State revoked the passport based on Fischer's arrest warrant. Officials sent Fischer a letter on December 11, 2003, to notify him that his passport had been revoked.

Fischer entered Japan in April 2004, using his invalid passport. Three months later, Fischer attempted to board a Japan Airlines flight from Tokyo to the Philippines. Fischer claimed that he did not know that his passport had been revoked until he was shown the letter after his arrest. Japanese officials detained him at the airport and later sent him to a detention center in the city of Ushiki. U.S. authorities sought to extradite him, submitting written requests to Japanese officials to turn Fischer over for deportation. Fischer responded by renouncing his American citizenship and filing documents in Japanese court asking for protection as a "political refugee."

Some groups and individuals began to work on Fischer's behalf to avoid the deportation. One group, the Tokyo-based Free Bobby Fischer, lobbied the Japanese government to allow Fischer to travel to Iceland. In Iceland, Saemi Palsson, one of Fischer's former security guards, arranged for Fischer to receive citizenship. In late March 2005, Japanese officials relented and allowed Fischer to fly to Reykjavik. A crowd of about 250 greeted Fischer and his fianceé at the airport.

As Fischer arrived in Iceland, another U.S. grand jury was reportedly reviewing tax evasion and money laundering charges against him. However, U.S. officials told news sources that the chances of Fischer's deportation from Iceland to the United States are slight.