BEIRUT (AP) — Nissan’s fugitive ex-boss, Carlos Ghosn, on Wednesday described his detention conditions in Japan, from which he fled last month in a daring escape, as a “travesty” against human rights and dignity.
Ghosn was defensive as he held a news conference in Beirut - his first appearance since fleeing Japan last month. He said the decision to escape the country, where he was due to stand trial for alleged financial misconduct at the automaker, “was the most difficult of my life.”
The former auto industry titan dismissed all allegations against him as untrue, saying “I should never have been arrested in the first place.”
“I’m not above the law and I welcome the opportunity for the truth to come out and have my name cleared,” he told a packed room of journalists.
Ghosn smuggled himself from Tokyo to Beirut in late December, arriving in the Lebanese capital where he grew up and is regarded by many as a national hero. Ghosn’s daring and improbable escape has perplexed and embarrassed Japanese authorities after he skipped bail and managed to flee the country despite supposedly rigorous surveillance.
Media reports have said that he left his residence alone, met two men at a Tokyo hotel, and then took a bullet train to Osaka before boarding a private jet hidden inside a case for musical equipment. He flew to Istanbul and was then transferred onto another plane bound for Beirut, where he arrived Dec. 30.
On Wednesday, Tokyo prosecutors raided a Japanese lawyer’s office where Ghosn had visited regularly before he fled. Japanese media reports said prosecutors had likely seized the computer to track down how Ghosn escaped and who might have helped him.
- AP