Escape only in movies! Ghosn, former chairman of Nissan, has legally entered Lebanon.
Cctv newsCarlos ghosn, the former chairman of Nissan Motor Company, who was released on bail pending trial in Japan for financial crimes, confirmed on December 31, 2019 that he was already in Lebanon. There is no official conclusion on how Ghosn left Japan. Some media said that he may have jumped bail and left by private jet.
Ghosn issued a statement on December 31, 2019 confirming that he was in Lebanon. However, the statement did not disclose how Ghosn left Japan and only promised to tell the media the details next week. The Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) reported that Ghosn left Japan under a pseudonym and forged documents with the help of others. Lebanese MTV reported that Ghosn departed from a local airport in Japan, transited through Ankara, the capital of Turkey, and finally arrived in Beirut. When Ghosn arrived in Lebanon, many media had different opinions.
The Associated Press reported that Ghosn’s statement said that he did not escape the trial, but only wanted to avoid "injustice and political persecution". Ghosn has always claimed to be the victim of the rebellion of the board of directors since his first arrest, and accused Nissan executives of fabricating charges and conspiring to deprive him of the leadership of the enterprise in order to prevent Nissan from deepening the "integration" with Renault Automobile Company of France, thus endangering the interests of Japanese shareholders. Lawyer Ghosn also pointed out that the Japanese government may be involved.
Shortly after Ghosn issued a statement confirming that he was in Lebanon, one of his lawyers, Japanese lawyer Hiroyuki Ichiro, was interviewed by media reporters, saying that he "knows no more than media reports".
Japanese police launched an investigation into Ghosn’s escape
According to Japanese media reports, Japanese police have collected surveillance videos of Ghosn’s residence in Tokyo and related places during his bail, and investigated the exit situation of airports around the country. The police believe that many people helped Ghosn escape, but no specific details have been released yet. We have learned that Ghosn has the nationality of Brazil, France and Lebanon at the same time. Although the Lebanese side said that "Ghosn used his own French passport when he entered the country, and the relevant procedures were legal", Ghosn’s Japanese lawyer team said that according to the relevant bail regulations, all Ghosn’s passports are still in the hands of lawyers. An hour ago, we got the latest news that the French side issued Ghosn with two passports, one of which was kept by the lawyers’ group and the other by myself. We immediately contacted Ghosn’s team of lawyers about passport keeping, but as Japan is on New Year’s Day holiday, we haven’t got the relevant reply.
In fact, until December 31, 2019, when the media in Lebanon and Europe and the United States revealed that Ghosn had arrived in Lebanon, the Japanese Ministry of Justice, the Prosecutor’s Office and the border management department were still unaware of Ghosn’s escape. Japanese officials have not yet responded to how Ghosn escaped. We contacted the Japanese Police Department, which said that it is still in the stage of collecting information and is under investigation, and there is no investigation result. Not only the government departments, but also the Japanese media’s response during New Year’s Day is relatively slow, because it is the most important festival in Japan. At present, Japanese media only quoted Lebanese reports that Ghosn fled Tokyo in a musical instrument box and boarded a private plane to Turkey at Kansai Airport in Osaka. But this statement has not been officially confirmed. At present, it can only be confirmed that Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has indicated that there was indeed a private jet flying from Kansai Airport to Istanbul, Turkey on December 29, 2019.
Some Japanese media and people speculated that Ghosn was likely to escape from Japan in disguise. In March 2019, when Ghosn was released on bail for the first time in Japan and left the detention center, he once put on work clothes, put on a mask and disguised himself as an engineering worker. However, because of his short stature, he is very domineering and has characteristics when walking, and he is still recognized by reporters who are squatting. This time, under the strict monitoring during the bail period, Ghosn still successfully arrived in Lebanon through numerous checkpoints, which triggered concerns about Japan’s security and entry and exit issues. Especially when the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games is just around the corner, tens of millions of athletes and spectators from all over the world will enter Japan. How to strengthen border management and ensure personnel safety is also called the focus of attention.
Lebanon and France’s reaction to Ghosn’s "Prison Break"
Ghosn, 65, is a Lebanese born in Brazil and holds Brazilian, French and Lebanese nationalities. The Lebanese Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that Ghosn entered the country legally. At present, there is no extradition treaty between Japan and Lebanon, which means Ghosn will not face any legal proceedings in Lebanon.
In November 2018 and April 2019, Ghosn was arrested twice in Japan and paid bail of 1 billion yen (about 64.08 million yuan) and 500 million yen (about 32.04 million yuan). Ghosn has so far been accused of underreporting huge income and transferring personal investment losses to Nissan. According to the bail regulations, Ghosn’s French, Brazilian and Lebanese passports are kept by Ghosn’s lawyers.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that Ghosn entered the country legally, but he did not know the details of his departure from Japan and his arrival in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. The statement mentioned that there is no extradition treaty between Japan and Lebanon. On the same day, the Lebanese security department issued a statement confirming that Ghosn would not face any legal proceedings in Lebanon.
The French side said that it was "very surprised" to learn that Ghosn left Japan. But considering Ghosn is a French citizen, France will provide him with consular assistance. However, Ghosn cannot be above the law.