Ghosn says he escaped 'injustice' in Japan; Lebanon calls arrival a private matter

[webfact]

Ghosn says he escaped 'injustice' in Japan; Lebanon calls arrival a private matter

By Issam Abdallah and Tim Kelly

 

FILE PHOTO: Former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn leaves the Tokyo Detention House in Tokyo, Japan, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato

 

BEIRUT/TOKYO (Reuters) - Ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn said on Tuesday he had fled to Lebanon to escape a "rigged" justice system in Japan, raising questions about how one of the world's most-recognized executives had slipped away while on bail.

 

Ghosn's abrupt departure marks the latest twist in a year-old saga that has shaken the global auto industry, jeopardised the alliance of Nissan Motor Co Ltd and top shareholder Renault SA and increased scrutiny of Japan's judicial system.

 

"I am now in Lebanon and will no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied," Ghosn, 65, said in a brief statement on Tuesday.

 

"I have not fled justice - I have escaped injustice and political persecution. I can now finally communicate freely with the media, and look forward to starting next week."

 

Tokyo officials have previously said the system is not inhumane and that Ghosn, who is facing trial on financial misconduct charges he denies, has been treated like any other suspect.

 

It was unclear how Ghosn, who holds French, Brazilian and Lebanese citizenship, was able to orchestrate his departure from Japan. He had been under strict surveillance by authorities while out on bail and had surrendered his passports.

 

According to a senior Lebanese foreign ministry source, Ghosn entered Lebanon legally on a French passport and using his Lebanese ID with normal security procedures. People familiar with the matter told Reuters he had arrived in Beirut on a private jet from Istanbul on Monday.

 

The French and Lebanese foreign ministries both said they were unaware of the circumstances of his journey. "All discussion of it is his private matter," the Lebanese ministry added.

 

Ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn was in Lebanon on Tuesday after fleeing what he said was a "rigged" justice system in Japan, raising questions about how one of the world's most-recognized executives slipped away while on bail. David Pollard reports.

 

Lebanon's state security directorate said Ghosn will not face any legal consequences for the way he entered the country, state NNA news agency reported. The foreign ministry said Lebanon did not have a judicial cooperation agreement with Japan.

 

Japanese authorities had no record of Ghosn leaving, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said. A person resembling him entered Beirut international airport under a different name, NHK reported, citing an unidentified Lebanese security official.

 

His lawyers were still in possession of his three passports, one of his lawyers, Junichiro Hironaka, told reporters.

 

Hironaka, in comments broadcast live on NHK, said the first he had heard of Ghosn's departure was on the news this morning and that he was surprised. He also said it was "inexcusable behaviour".

 

Japan has extradition treaties with only the United States and South Korea, according to the justice ministry, meaning it could be difficult to force Ghosn to return to stand trial.

 

While his arrest on financial misconduct charges last year ensured a dramatic fall from grace in Japan, he retains more popularity in Lebanon, where billboards saying "We are all Carlos Ghosn" were erected in his support and he was previously featured on a postage stamp.

 

Born in Brazil of Lebanese ancestry, Ghosn grew up in Beirut and has retained close ties to Lebanon.

 

At Ghosn’s gated villa in the Achrafieh neighborhood of Beirut, a handful of police and private security personnel stood guard on Tuesday.

 

A man who identified himself only as his English neighbor walked by to leave a card, with the words “Carlos, welcome home!” written inside. It was not immediately clear if Ghosn was at the address.

 

"It's a good thing that at last he's out of being locked up for something which he may or may not -- probably not -- have done," said the neighbor.

 

A French minister said before the report Ghosn used a French passport that she was "very surprised" by news of his emergence in Lebanon.

 

FLIGHT RISK

Ghosn was first arrested in Tokyo in November 2018, shortly after his private jet touched down at the airport. He faces four charges - which he denies - including hiding income and enriching himself through payments to dealerships in the Middle East.

 

Nissan sacked him as chairman saying internal investigations revealed misconduct including understating his salary while he was its chief executive, and transferring $5 million of Nissan funds to an account in which he had an interest.

 

The case sparked international criticism of Japan's justice system, in which 99.9 percent of people charged with crimes are convicted and defence lawyers are prohibited from being present during interrogations that can last eight hours a day.

 

Ghosn was initially released in March on a record $9 million bail only to be arrested on related charges weeks later and then released on bail again at the end of April.

 

His movement and communications have been monitored and restricted to prevent his fleeing the country and tampering with evidence, the Tokyo District court previously said.

 

The terms of his bail have also been striking by Western standards. He has been prevented from communicating with his wife, Carole, and had his use of the internet and other communications curtailed.

 

Carole is now with him in Lebanon at a house with armed guards outside, the New York Times reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

 

HOUSE ARREST

Ghosn did not believe he would get a fair trial in Japan and was "tired of being an industrial political hostage", one person told The Wall Street Journal.

 

A person familiar with Nissan's thinking told Reuters: "I think he gave up fighting the prosecutors in court."

 

The trial was widely expected to start in April. Ghosn's Japanese lawyers have fought, so far unsuccessfully, to get access to 6,000 pieces of evidence collected from Nissan, which they say is crucial to a fair trial.

 

Ghosn has said he is the victim of a boardroom coup, accusing former Nissan colleagues of "backstabbing" and describing them as selfish rivals bent on derailing closer ties between the Japanese automaker and its biggest shareholder Renault, of which Ghosn was also chairman.

 

His lawyers have asked the court to dismiss all charges, accusing prosecutors of colluding with government officials and Nissan executives to oust him to block any takeover by Renault.

 

Ghosn began his career in 1978 at tyre maker Michelin. In 1996, he moved to Renault where he oversaw a turnaround that won him the nickname "Le Cost Killer."

 

After Renault sealed an alliance with Nissan in 1999, Ghosn used similar methods to revive the ailing brand, leading to business super-star status in Japan, blanket media coverage and even a manga comic book on his life.

 

(Additional reporting by Christian Lowe, Nicolas Delame, Maya Nikolaeva and Dominique Vidalon in Paris; Kevin Buckland, Linda Sieg and David Dolan in Tokyo, Eric Knecht and Layla Bassam in Beirut, Ben Klayman in Detroit and David Shepardson in Washington; Writing by Ben Klayman, David Dolan and Christian Lowe; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-01

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[Somtamnication]

Escape of the century! I wanna work for this guy!

[ezzra]

Seems like that the 'rigged' justice system in Japan didn't bother him much while he was getting 10's of millions in salaries and benefits, it does bother him however, when he found himself on the receiving end of that system...

[legend49]

This will make a good movie!

[Deli]

Money works also in the civilized world, if you wanna make a runner

[klauskunkel]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

It was unclear how Ghosn was able to orchestrate his departure from Japan.

Elon sent him his submarine. The rest his history.

[Opl]

"An elaborate operation involving a musical instrument case and a private security company apparently did the trick, Lebanese news channel MTV reports. A French news source identified Ghosn's wife as the mastermind behind the escape."

"A Lebanese phoenix will not be scorched by the Japanese sun,"

[LomSak27]

Just now, Opl said:

A French news source identified Ghosn's wife as the mastermind behind the escape."

 

Kick A-- Mrs Ghosn!   

[Opl]

1 hour ago, legend49 said:

This will make a good movie!

[Opl]

2 minutes ago, LomSak27 said:

 

Kick A-- Mrs Ghosn!   

"in an audacious Hollywood movie-style escape masterminded by his wife with the assistance of a Gregorian music band and a team of ex-special forces officers."

A private plane was waiting to whisk the former corporate titan to Istanbul, Turkey. From there he appears to have boarded a Bombardier Challenger private jet for a flight to Lebanon, where he arrived before dawn on Monday. The flight path recorded by plane tracking site FlightRadar shows the jet disappear at 4.16am, just as it approached Beirut-Rafic Hariri international airport.

[Christie Paul]

Ghosn is a bonafide genius and not a mere crook. 

 

His brilliance was utterly intolerable to the Japanese.

 

Now he will expose the Japaneses legal system for what it is and the stench will have repercussions far and wide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Captain Monday]

Hard to believe. Perhaps the door was "left open". 

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-31/ghosn-escape-theory-music-box-private-jet-and-french-passport?cmpid=socialflow-facebook-business&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_content=business&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0l-07sUKbnK9v-1PulOLfCBvZCKsxDQcAZxhB9sye3gLWgGyHMVLV7mSU

[ujayujay]

2 hours ago, Opl said:

"An elaborate operation involving a musical instrument case and a private security company apparently did the trick, Lebanese news channel MTV reports. A French news source identified Ghosn's wife as the mastermind behind the escape."

"A Lebanese phoenix will not be scorched by the Japanese sun,"

BS....he was fly out Japan with turkish airways simply with a Fake Passport under another Name!

[Calach]

Carlos gone.

 

[Opl]

47 minutes ago, ujayujay said:

BS....he was fly out Japan with turkish airways simply with a Fake Passport under another Name!

you could' nt be more right! Guess who's coming to dinner?

 

[gamesgplayemail]

So happy that he showed the finger to this retarded feudal judiciary system and to all the japanese idiots who accept it !

Happy new year Carlos ! I wish that you expose how japan is a country that should had been "finished" when it was still time...

 

 

 

 

[Nyezhov]

6 minutes ago, gamesgplayemail said:

So happy that he showed the finger to this retarded feudal judiciary system and to all the japanese idiots who accept it !

Happy new year Carlos ! I wish that you expose how japan is a country that should had been "finished" when it was still time...

 

 

 

 

Oooh a Japan hater. Hey who has a good system here? Cambodia? China?

[gamesgplayemail]

1 minute ago, Nyezhov said:

Oooh a Japan hater. Hey who has a good system here? Cambodia? China?

 

I don't care. I just tell that when someone is kept in jail he should be informed why, and nobody in this world deserves to be separated from is wife for no reason. Japanese are simply idiots to accept all the BS that is decided for them !

 

 

[Nyezhov]

1 minute ago, gamesgplayemail said:

nobody in this world deserves to be separated from is wife for no reason

Everybody who is in jail says that. Everywhere.

[Bluespunk]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

 

The case sparked international criticism of Japan's justice system, in which 99.9 percent of people charged with crimes are convicted

If that was an electoral statistic for an elected government, it would rightly be said it was a rigged and corrupt system. 

[Andrew65]

I always got the impression that he's a very smart guy.

[khunken]

Out on bail but he wasn't allowed to contact his wife nor use the internet freely.

His lawyers unable to get documents from Nissan pertaining to the charges against him.

99.9% of those charged with a crime are convicted.

I never realised that Japan's legal system was so badly distorted. No wonder he fled.

[Sujo]

2 hours ago, gamesgplayemail said:

 

I don't care. I just tell that when someone is kept in jail he should be informed why, and nobody in this world deserves to be separated from is wife for no reason. Japanese are simply idiots to accept all the BS that is decided for them !

 

 

He wasnt in jail

[DogNo1]

Go Carlos!

[Sujo]

9 minutes ago, DogNo1 said:

Go Carlos!

What makes you think he is innocent?

[Baerboxer]

7 hours ago, Opl said:

"in an audacious Hollywood movie-style escape masterminded by his wife with the assistance of a Gregorian music band and a team of ex-special forces officers."

A private plane was waiting to whisk the former corporate titan to Istanbul, Turkey. From there he appears to have boarded a Bombardier Challenger private jet for a flight to Lebanon, where he arrived before dawn on Monday. The flight path recorded by plane tracking site FlightRadar shows the jet disappear at 4.16am, just as it approached Beirut-Rafic Hariri international airport.

 

So a bunch of musicians and ex SF officers (from which country?) were paid to commit a crime which they did.

 

And now another very rich man will avoid any justice. 

 

If you're rich you flee then scream your innocent, the systems rigged, it's all political etc etc.

 

Lucky the Japanese don't seem the sought of nation that gets spooks to pay a visit to people like this. Others would.

[Baerboxer]

1 hour ago, khunken said:

Out on bail but he wasn't allowed to contact his wife nor use the internet freely.

His lawyers unable to get documents from Nissan pertaining to the charges against him.

99.9% of those charged with a crime are convicted.

I never realised that Japan's legal system was so badly distorted. No wonder he fled.

 

Or there again, he could be as guilty as they come!

[dabhand]

4 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

I always got the impression that he's a very smart guy.

Behind every successful man........

[rhodie]

35 minutes ago, rhyddid said:

White against Muslim, UK against EU, again no one see that as long these guys jump punishment world is going to be word day after day !

What has Muslim got to do with this. I think you will find he is a Christian! 

[Andrew65]

23 minutes ago, rhodie said:

What has Muslim got to do with this. I think you will find he is a Christian! 

Probably he has a Christian christian name.

He's part Lebanese, said by many to be very good business people.