Foreign
CARLOS Ghosn, who fled Japan for Beirut in a stunning escape from justice, is due to reveal new facts about his arrest and judicial proceedings in Tokyo, during his first appearance in front of the press on Wednesday.
The former Nissan Motor chairman is due to hold a press conference at the Beirut Press Syndicate at 3 pm (1300 GMT).
Ghosn, who was awaiting trial over financial misconduct charges, said in a statement after his arrival in Lebanon at the end of December he had escaped “injustice and political persecution” in Japan.
A source close to Ghosn told dpa that he will “reveal names and present documents which show the injustice practiced against him while he was in Japan.”
Ghosn was arrested in November 2018 in Tokyo. Last March he was released from jail after 108 days.
He was free on bail at the time of his escape.
Much remains unknown about how Ghosn, who holds French, Brazilian and Lebanese citizenship, got to Lebanon, where he has a home.
Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan.
Nissan Motor said on Tuesday that it will continue to take legal action against Ghosn.
Ghosn has denied all allegations against him.
The fact that the 65-year-old fled before facing trial in Japan was “extremely regrettable,” Nissan said in a statement.
The automotive firm’s internal investigation found “incontrovertible evidence of various acts of misconduct by Ghosn, including misstatement of his compensation and misappropriation of the company’s assets for his personal benefit,” it said.
Representatives of Ghosn hit back at Nissan, saying its investigation was “flawed, biased and lacking in independence from its inception.”
They said Nissan had never interviewed the former chairman during the probe and that it failed to find improper payments that former president Hiroto Saikawa, who resigned in September.
“It was initiated and carried out for the specific, predetermined purpose of taking down Carlos Ghosn to prevent him from further integrating Nissan” and its alliance partner Renault, which would have “threatened the independence of Nissan,” Ghosn’s representatives said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office obtained an arrest warrant for Ghosn’s wife on suspicion of perjury.
The office said Carole Ghosn is suspected of making a false statement at the Tokyo District
NAN
– Jan. 8, 2020 @ 10:05 GMT |
Tags: Ghosn set to reveal new facts of case at Beirut news conference
