In the aftermath of the press conference in Beirut of the fallen car magnate, the Lebanese justice system prohibited Carlos Ghosn, Thursday January 9, to leave the country, after an interrogation of the parquet floor general about an arrest warrant Interpol at the request of Japan, a judicial source said. "The public prosecutor's office adopted a decision prohibiting Carlos Ghosn from traveling and asked for his file" judicial with Japan, said this source.
Carlos Ghosn was heard by Lebanese investigators under the supervision of the Beirut prosecutor concerning the "Red notice" communicated to Interpol by Japan, where the businessman was charged with alleged financial embezzlement, according to the official Lebanese news agency. Carlos Ghosn’s lawyer could not be reached immediately.
He has been banned from traveling, his French passport has been confiscated, and prosecutors have asked Tokyo to send his criminal records, two judicial sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "Depending on the content of the case, if it is found that the crimes he is accused of in Japan require legal proceedings in Lebanon, he will be tried, one of the sources said. If no legal action is required under Lebanese law, he will be free. ".
"Such an attitude is unspeakable"
After delaying formal condemnation of the flight to Lebanon of the deposed boss of Renault and Nissan, the Japanese authorities immediately reacted at the end of his "Show" media organized Wednesday in Beirut, which is without mincing their words, which is rare.
"I want him to come and face Japanese justice, but he fled, even though he was not locked up, that he could see his lawyers freely. Such an attitude is unspeakable ”lambasted justice minister Masako Mori at a media availability in Tokyo on Thursday morning. She had already reacted during the night. "In any case, his escape is not justifiable", she continued. Interviewed by Lebanese television, Carlos Ghosn estimated these statements "Ridiculous". "I will fully cooperate with Lebanese justice, with whom I am more comfortable than I was with Japanese justice", he replied, believing that Japanese justice was "Retrograde".
For their part, Nissan officials, named by Mr. Ghosn, castigated his attitude. "If the content of the press conference is limited to that, he could have done it in Japan"joked former Nissan chief executive Hiroto Saikawa, denounced by the industry captain as one of his gravediggers. While waiting for his trial in Japan, Carlos Ghosn fled to Lebanon at the end of December, violating the formal ban on leaving the Japanese archipelago where he had been free on bail since April.
Our selection of articles on the escape of Carlos Ghosn
