Previous Story
Miura an ‘economic asset’—Fitial
|
Posted on Oct 09 2008
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial yesterday called murder suspect Kazuyoshi Miura an “economic asset,” pointing to the business and the publicity that the Commonwealth generated from the international media coverage of his seven-month extradition case on Saipan.
“Economically, he is an asset. The CNMI benefited from his incarceration here. The media coverage helped the economy. We were hoping he would stay longer,” Fitial told a room full of Japanese and local media yesterday.
However, the governor was quick to add that he would not hope for other high-profile fugitives to come to Saipan.
“We don’t want to market the CNMI as a destination for fugitives. We want Japanese tourists to come here, not Japanese fugitives,” Fitial said.
Miura was arrested at the airport on Saipan last Feb. 22 over the killing of his wife in L.A. in 1981. Since then he has fought his extradition to California, where he has been cleared of murder but is still facing a charge for conspiracy to commit murder.
After losing the extradition case in the CNMI Superior and Supreme courts, he brought the legal battle to the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. On Sept. 29, 2008, he gave up on the extradition case and vowed to continue his fight in California. The Los Angeles Police Department was expected to escort him to California early this morning.
Miura’s extradition case drew wide coverage by Japanese media, generating publicity for Saipan in its largest tourism market, Japan. Moreover, reporters, photographers, and cameramen covering the case spent weeks at a time on island, creating business for the local tourism industry, including the hotels, taxicabs, and car rental companies.
