Ex-Nissan chief Ghosn flees to Lebanon to escape 'political persecution' in Japan

Beirut [Lebanon], Dec 31 (ANI): Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who is facing charges of financial wrongdoing in Japan, has fled the country and has taken refuge in Lebanon to avoid "injustice and political persecution".
Ghosn was set to stand trial next year. He has maintained his innocence, The New York Times reported.
He has posted bail of USD 9 million, had been required to surrender his passport and was under close watch by the authorities.
According to a Lebanese newspaper, Al-Joumhouriya, Ghosn arrived in Lebanon on a private jet from Turkey. His wife, Carole Ghosn, is with him in Lebanon at a home with armed guards outside.
"I am now in Lebanon and will no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied, in flagrant disregard of Japan's legal obligations under international law and treaties it is bound to uphold," Ghosn said in a statement released by his spokeswoman.
"I have not fled justice -- I have escaped injustice and political persecution," the statement said. "I can now finally communicate freely with the media, and look forward to starting next week."
65-year-old Ghosn is a citizen of Lebanon and here he is legally protected from extradition as well as of France and Brazil.
He spent much of his youth in Beirut, and enjoys widespread public support there. A billboard appears in the city with the imprisoned executive shortly after his arrest in November 2018. "We are all Carlos Ghosn," it said.
Prosecutors alleged that he transferred some of Nissan's funds to his personal bank account, causing the automaker a loss of five million dollars.
Ghosn has also been removed from the board of directors of the company, along with partners Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, during the prolonged detention initiated by his initial arrest in November. (ANI)