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Topic: Any news about Bobby Fischer
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| Gil wrote: Do you think if had he have committed a common crime (no political) he would be judged with so much rigidity? |
In what sense did he commit a `political crime'?
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All laws passed in any democracy are policy decisions by the government. That's how the system works.
I'll accept that the motivation for pursuing Fischer so long after the event seems political but the crimes he committed certainly were not.
As for `he is only a chess player', why is that an automatic get-out-of-jail-free card? Should, say, Garry Kasparov be excused of any crimes he might commit because he's `just a chess player'? What about, say, Peter Leko, who's never been World Champion? I'm `just a mathematician' -- do I have to pay my taxes?
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Bobby, if you are reading this, please comment for us.
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| Gil wrote: I said, "He only is a chess player" to mean that this does not justify the hard persecution of the American government. Not to justify that he can commit crimes. |
OK. Though I don't think he has been persecuted -- that's a very strong word to use.
| did in no moment of the process Bobby Fischer wish to pay the rates? |
Well, the chess match in question was fifteen years ago. He's had plenty of chance to pay if that's what he intended to do.
| The problem is that his passport was cancelled. He was not already American citizen. How to pay the rates if was not he anymore American citizen? |
You're confusing two things. Cancelling somebody's passport does not mean that they are no longer a citizen. Fischer is not a citizen of the USA because, after his passport was cancelled, he voluntarily gave up his citizenship. However, giving up his citizenship does not mean that he is free from the obligations he built up while he was a citizen: he still owes the tax and is still liable for whatever punishment comes with not paying your taxes for fifteen years.
I think Fischer has been badly treated but he's hardly a saint.
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| Gil wrote: According to I read about, he could not get out of Japan because he did not have passport and the American government did not give him the passport. |
The passport was only cancelled very recently -- in the last two years or so. What's worse is that they even renewed his passport at some point after 1992.
| To get out of Japan he needed a passport so he renounced from American citizenship to obtain an Iceland's Passport. A foreigner does not need to pay some rates that just are for citizens. Why would he still have obligation of paying the rates that the American government charged from him? |
In 1992, when he won the prize money, he was a US citizen, so he owes tax on it, even though he is no longer a citizen. If he won money today, he would not owe US taxes on that money.
| I am not a lawyer but why did the American government cancel his passport? |
I believe the reason is that it left the Japanese authorities with only two real options: either keep him in Japan or send him back to the country of his citizenship, i.e., the USA. At that point, the US authorities could put him on trial. But then Iceland gave him citizenship so they sent him there, instead.
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