A US federal judge gave the green light on Thursday, January 28, for the extradition to Japan of two Americans, arrested in May 2020 and suspected of having helped the ex-boss of Renault-Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, to flee the country.
Judge Indira Talwani considered that the arguments put forward by Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor, according to which in particular they risked being subjected to conditions close to torture in Japanese prisons, were not sufficient to derogate from the Treaty of extradition between Tokyo and Washington.
“Even though prison conditions in Japan might be deplorable, and even though the criminal proceedings to which the Taylors will be subjected might not satisfy the American due diligence process”, Japanese conditions do not constitute ” “severe suffering or severe mental and physical suffering” as envisaged by the texts “, wrote the judge in his 29-page decision.
The two men did not establish “That it was more likely than not that they would be subjected to torture in Japan”, he added. The judge also stressed that the acts with which they are accused constituted an offense both in the United States and in Japan.
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Michael Taylor, a former member of the US special forces converted to private security, and his son Peter were arrested in May 2020 after Japan issued an arrest warrant against them.
Peter Taylor was arrested in Boston while on his way to Lebanon, a country where the former head of the Renault-Nissan automotive alliance took refuge and which has no extradition treaty with Japan . Considered to have a “Great risk of flight”, the two men had been detained since, pending the outcome of the extradition procedure.
The two men, along with the Lebanese George-Antoine Zayek, are accused by Japan of helping the fallen auto tycoon escape Japanese justice in a spectacular escape on December 29, 2019. Targeted by complaints for financial embezzlement, Carlos Ghosn was then free on bail. The former Renault-Nissan boss is now in Lebanon, a country to which he has citizenship, but which does not have an extradition treaty with Japan.
According to US court documents, the three men apparently helped him hide in a large slush fund, similar to a musical instrument cabinet, which they then boarded a private jet, the baggage control was not compulsory for this type of aircraft at the time.
Lawyers for the Taylors immediately appealed this decision, but it is not immediately clear how quickly this appeal could be considered.
