Yahoo Finance Carlos Ghosn: 'I did not escape justice. I fled injustice.'
Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn slammed the Japanese justice system during his first public appearance since fleeing the country.
“I did not escape justice. I fled injustice and persecution, political persecution,” Ghosn said at a press conference in Beruit, Lebanon on Wednesday. “You're going to die in Japan or you've got to get out.”
During his speech, he described how he was “brutally taken” from his world as he knew it on the day of his arrest in Japan in November 2018.
“I have not experienced a moment of freedom since November 19, 2018. It is impossible — it is impossible to express the depth of that deprivation and my profound appreciation to once again be able to be reunited with my family and loved ones,” Ghosn said.
The high-profile auto executive was arrested in November 2018 at the airport in Tokyo on allegations of under-reporting his compensation and misusing company funds.
“These allegations are untrue and I should have never been arrested in the first place,” he said.
Ghosn, who has maintained his innocence and called the charges against him “baseless,” said his treatment by the Japanese judicial system was a “travesty against his human rights and dignity.”
While enduring this “nightmare” imprisonment, Ghosn said his only contact with friends and family was through letters his attorneys showed him through a looking glass.
Watch the full press conference on our YouTube page
He added that he spent 130 days in detention and upon being granted bail the first time he sought to share his side of the story only to be “thrown back in solitary confinement within 24 hours.” He called this “confinement that flies in the face of global and United Nations standards of justice.”
Ghosn escaped Japan to Lebanon on December 30. However, he said he was “not here today to talk about how I l managed to leave Japan, although I can understand that you are interested in that. I’m here to talk about why I left.”
He emphasized that he wants to have his name vindicated and his reputation restored after the 400 days of “inhumane treatment.” He also called the decision to leave Japan the “most difficult” of his life and a risk one takes when they will be subjected to an “unfair trial.”
A majority of his speech focused on the Japanese legal system, which he described as “indifferent” to the truth, fairness, civil liberties, and accepted norms of justice.
Ghosn said the “unimaginable ordeal” he went through was because of “a handful of unscrupulous, vindictive individuals” at Nissan and the Latham & Watkins law firm.
In a statement released this week, Nissan called Ghosn’s escape to Lebanon “extremely regrettable.” The automaker said it “discovered numerous acts of misconduct by Ghosn through a robust, thorough internal investigation” and that he was “not fit to serve as an executive.”
“The 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. The consequences of Ghosn’s misconduct have been significant. In addition to his prosecution in Japan, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission concluded that Ghosn’s conduct, including his schemes to underreport his compensation, was fraudulent. Investigations in France concerning possible misconduct are still ongoing. Nissan will continue to do the right thing by cooperating with judicial and regulatory authorities wherever necessary,” Nissan said in a statement.
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