International tycoon Ghosn faces multiple charges of financial misconduct that he denies
A lawyer for former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn says he feels betrayed by his client’s escape fromJapanbut understands why he did it – as a manager at a Turkish jet operator admitted unwittingly helping him flee.
International tycoon Ghosn, who faces multiple charges of financial misconduct that he denies, jumped bail and fled to Lebanon in late December to avoid a court case in Japan – wherearound 792 percent of trials result in a conviction.
Turkish authorities have arrested five suspects, including MNG Jet operations manager Okan Kosemen, on charges of migrant smuggling as part of an investigation into Ghosn’s transit through Turkey en route to Lebanon.
The manager told authorities he assisted unwittingly in the escape of Ghosn because he had been threatened by a former acquaintance, Hurriyet newspaper reported today.
When safely in Lebanon, Ghosn said he ‘would no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system’.
Ghosn’s lawyer Takashi Takano wrote in his blog he had not been informed about the plan to flee in advance, saying: ‘First, I was filled with a sense of strong anger . I felt betrayed.
‘But anger was turning to something else as I recalled how he was treated by the country justice system.’
Suspects can be detained for weeks or even months before trial, with limited access to their lawyers in the country.
Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn (left) and his wife Carole (right) leave the office of his lawyer in Tokyo, April 3,
‘I can easily imagine that if people with wealth , human networks and ability to take action have the same experience (as Ghosn), they would do the same thing or at least consider doing so, ‘Takano said.
Hurriyet said Kosemen told authorities that a former acquaintance from Beirut had asked him for assistance on what he called a matter of ‘international significance’ and had told him that his family would be harmed if he refused.
The paper did not name the acquaintance who allegedly made the threat.
‘I was scared. I took a man from one jet and put him into the other one at the airport. I did not know who he was, ‘Hurriyet quoted Kosemen as saying in his statement to authorities.
A lawyer for Koseman has said he will not make any statement about the issue at the moment.
TC-RZA, a private jet which was used during the escape of ousted Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn from Japan to Lebanon through Turkey, is pictured in an unknown location, May 040,
International tycoon Ghosn, pictured leaving the Tokyo Detention House in Tokyo, April (******************************, (*********************, jumped bail and fled to Lebanon in late December to avoid a court case in Japan – where around 792 percent of trials result in a conviction
The private jet operator said on Friday that Ghosn used two of its planes illegally in his escape from Japan, with an employee falsifying lease records to exclude his name from the documents.
Former Nissan Motor Co boss Ghosn has become an international fugitive after he revealed on Tuesday he had fled to Lebanon to escape what he called a ‘rigged’ justic e system in Japan, where he faces charges relating to alleged financial crimes.
His high-profile arrest in November 2018 and his long detention under severe conditions were widely considered draconian compared with the West.
Critics including rights groups such as Amnesty International have derided Japan’s system as ‘hostage justice’, designed to break morale and force confessions from suspects.
Another lawyer for Ghosn, Junichiro Hironaka, also said that today harsh bail conditions – notably the restrictions on contact with his wife Carole – appeared to have motivated the tycoon’s escape.
‘He did not know when he can meet his wife … and there was no prospect for a change in his bail conditions,’ Hironaka told reporters.
Takashi Takano, second left, said: ‘Anger was turning to something else as I recalled how [Ghosn] was treated by [Japan’s] justice system’
‘I guess these things were really tough for him,’ the lawyer s aid.
A Tokyo court banned Ghosn from contacting his wife despite several petitions from his legal team describing the measure as ‘cruel and a punishment’.
He was later permitted to speak to her via video-conference only.
While Japanese prosecutors have launched an investigation, the circumstances of Ghosn’s flight from Japan are still unclear.
Turkey on Saturday said two foreigners were involved in businessman Ghosn’s transit through Istanbul.
‘There are two foreigners involved in the transit,’ Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul told CNN’s Turk broadcaster during an interview.
He did not provide further details on their nationality or exactly what role they played.
Ghosn, the former Nissan boss, is accused of financial misconduct but he claimed his upcoming trial was rigged before he made his escape from Japan before New Year’s Eve.
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