Ghosn case haunts Japan a year after brazen escape

Still haunts a dozen guards/prosecutors, the rest of the country doesn't care.

Ghosn case haunts Japan a year after brazen escape

No it is injustice that really haunts Japan, if Japan keep doing injustice over decades at some point someone will fight back and show the world.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/03/22/national/crime-legal/false-conviction-japan-justice-system/

But wholesale reform looks unlikely, with the JFBA largely ignored by the government and carefully avoiding mention of the Ghosn case, instead urging the respect of rights protected by Japan's constitution.

In November, Ghosn scored a victory when a U.N. working group on arbitrary detention concluded his arrest and detention in Japan had been "fundamentally unfair", a view Tokyo slammed as "totally unacceptable"

So Japan just want to continue that practice for another decades without changing?

Surely, the constant detention without trial, to force a confession, must still ‘haunt’ Mr Ghosn?

Maybe the author of the article is in to writing drama-queen type stories. It certainly is overboard in it's wording as few really care about him anymore, with the exception of the prosecutors who will do anything to get the egg off their face!

It's more than obvious the justice system is out of control, digging itself further in. Like many j-government bueuracrats the idea of change to benefit those they serve is outwayed by their aversion to any change. They must be right even when wrong.

I am still waiting netflix series with a giant advertisement in Shibuya station. Maybe this will help to make understand young generation how Japanese justice is not fair.

@Freddy Freeway

Still haunts a dozen guards/prosecutors, the rest of the country doesn't care

spot on ! care factor - zero

Ghosn case haunts Japan a year after brazen escape

Good. The onus is upon Japan to reform it's unfit for purpose legal system, and ir's mickey mouse rule of law.

@FreddyFreeway & @tooheysnew

If you don't feel empathy for the people tortured by the system.

I guess that when you get into a problem and find yourself in solitary confinement for indefinite time, then you'll start caring.

Ghosn is the kind of guy who can’t sit still stupefied in a country like Lebanon. He’ll start to move, and jump into a trap.

It's not his escape that haunts them. It's exposing the farce known as the Japanese justice system.

He will be in in prison in France soon, then after 4 years, extradited to Japan. Justice take a long time, but you can run, but you can’t hide.

Not brazen escape, miraculous escape from a system that is arbitrary and unable to see itself in the scales of justice. Justice should be blind Japanese system just blind.

Facing an Interpol arrest warrant, Ghosn has remained effectively trapped in Lebanon, even as others face court over their links to his case.

How can any interpol arrest warrent issued by Japan be worth the paper it is written on, when even the UN has called Mr.Ghosn's detention ilegal.

when even the UN has called Mr.Ghosn's detention ilegal.

Proof? New news to me.

By the way, do you trust the U.N. Human Rights Council which partly consists of non democratic countries.

Whatever changes are needed to the Japanese justice system, they aren't going to happen by a bail jumping fugitive from justice hiding in Lebanon crying about it as an excuse for his unwillingness to prove his innocence in court. Nor is it going to change by some UN rights council who feels the justice sysyem in Japan is of greater concern than the genocide of the Uighur people going on right now. Oh wait, China is on the council..lol.

Kelly, who like Ghosn denies any wrongdoing, faces 10 years in prison if found guilty

And what about if he is innocent, as is the supposed presumption?

Is it consistent with our values as humans for innocent people to be treated in such a way?

It is difficult to grasp and comprehend the shambles, chaos and disorder, Carlos Ghosn arrest and incarceration, whilst in the background Nissan executives with the help of Tokyo prosecutor office attempted to stage a full boardroom coup. 

Only for Carlos Ghosn to take flight, hidden in case of a woodwind instrument.

Couldn’t make this up.

Then……

In November, Ghosn scored a victory when a U.N. working group on arbitrary detention concluded his arrest and detention in Japan had been "fundamentally unfair", a view Tokyo slammed as "totally unacceptable".

Couldn’t possibly get more embarrassing?

Hold the press, 12 Nov 2020….   Carlos Ghosn has put the whole sorry saga to print….

Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn speaks out about his arrest and escape from Japan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4Ji9xT-AWo

Carlos Ghosn has condemned the entire Japanese Justice to trial by Global media.

@bokuda

our lack of empathy is for the Japanese government

Carlos Ghosn is engaging in a full media campaign.

New Interview with Carlos Ghosn, 1st December 2020….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-zyg9EwP4o

Carlos Ghosn is an attempting to reverse the Interpol 'red notice'

Ghosn insists he did not flee justice Ghosn insists he “escaped injustice and political persecution".

And what about if he is innocent, as is the supposed presumption?

Wrong country.

His escape "haunts Japan"??

You guys held him for over a year without giving him a trial!

world's most famous fugitive, 

Perhaps in the minds of the Japanese.

I would say Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Roman Polanski are far more well-known in the world as fugitives.

I would guess that if if asked any Millenia in a western country who is Ghosn, few could answer but ask them who is Snowden and they will immediately tell you.

In the older generations it would be the same but you could add Polanski along with Snowden. Few could even tell you who Ghosn is or what he did or was.

He will be in in prison in France soon, then after 4 years, extradited to Japan. Justice take a long time, but you can run, but you can’t hide.

He will not go to prison in France.

Sooner or later, that big smelly fat fish will fall..

Which big smelly fish? The Japanese biased justice (or is it injustice) system? The one with 99% conversation rate equal only to countries like China and NK and that anyone that is honest knows also has a clear slant against non Japanese defendants.

Sooner or later, that big smelly fat fish will fall..

Who? The prosecutors or the new leadership at Nissan.

In recent years we have have several well publicised cases of foreigners and even several Japanese ordered released by the supreme Court after years in prison and even people sitting on death row, because police forced confessions, police and prosecutors fabricated or hid evidence. And even after being caught hiding evidence both the police and prosecutors refused to admit they had the wrong men and still tried to charge these men again. How any country would extradite their citizens to face such a corrupt justice system is unimaginable.

I am actually surprised that Ghosn didn’t do what every other high level Japanese executive or political figure does when caught with their hands in the cookie jar: Simply bow repeatedly in shame like a bobbing parrot, and pretend to weep profusely as the camera shutters go off.

Pay a token fine for the grand larceny, and retire wealthy with the books cleared.

Ghosn’s problem was that he thought he was above all that. Too arrogant to play the game’s final act. Probably would do things differently in hindsight.

He just a little man with big problems of his own doing. All fit into a musical trunk like a banged up tuba.

He gets what he deserves. Especially after learning nothing on how some corrupt Japanese executives -,like himself - retire wealthy after a career of looting.

Whatever changes are needed to the Japanese justice system, they aren't going to happen by a bail jumping fugitive from justice hiding in Lebanon crying about it as an excuse for his unwillingness to prove his innocence in court. Nor is it going to change by some UN rights council who feels the justice sysyem in Japan is of greater concern than the genocide of the Uighur people going on right now. Oh wait, China is on the council..lol.

Oh you mean that other country that also has a 99% conviction rate.

That is 99% conviction rate, people with covid have a greater chance of dying than he has to "prove his innocence in court." .

I am actually surprised that Ghosn didn’t do what every other high level Japanese executive or political figure does when caught with their hands in the cookie jar: Simply bow repeatedly in shame like a bobbing parrot, and pretend to weep profusely as the camera shutters go off.

Note the one word above that makes all the difference "Japanese".

It would work just as well for Ghosn as well. He just couldn’t bring himself to do it. No sympathy for the little thief.

@Lamilly

Ok let's look. While he was running things the company was profitable and could pay employees and suppliers, now that the old guard has taken back control the Japanese government has had to bail the company out again.

Interesting!

A profitable company is not justification for executive looting. It simply prolongs the activity.

And it doesn’t appear that Ghosn had any consideration for his supporters in Japan, his allies in the Nissan company, and even his Japanese lawyer that guaranteed he was not a flight risk during his bail.

The little man is a “me first and foremost” trunk monkey.

@Txrogers

I love Japan but I am not so blinded by that to believe that foreigners are treated equally especially by the justice system.

I live in reality.

23 days of interrogation, no right to an attorney present, for each charge. They wouldn't let him use the internet, they wouldn't let him meet his wife, use the telephone, yet this guy exercised his right to remain silent for that entire time - a feat most would not be able to pull off for that long. This thoroughly angered the authorities, obviously. I don't know if he did anything wrong or not, but I respect a guy who knows his rights and exercises them under such circumstances. There was no way this guy was going to get a fair trial here in Japan, no way.

Ghosn is a free man and was absolutely right in fleeing an oppressive legal system.

Don't waste your time on this Japan. You'll never have him arrested. He did no wrong.

Move on.

@Txrogers

And it doesn’t appear that Ghosn had any consideration for his supporters in Japan

Ghosn doesn't have "supporters". That's the problem with the populist mindset. They think that just because you agree with one person, it should mean that you are a "supporter".

Catch Me If You Can.

Goshn had respect to his person. Hence he flew away persecution.

Japanese logic is illogical.

When working in Japan and when situation was off standard boundaries, you had to apologize to your superior for a presumed mistake although it had nothing to do with you. Any rational or sensible explanation would never be taken into account before some time, if it were which was not most of the time.

freddy:

Still haunts a dozen guards/prosecutors, the rest of the country doesn't care.

Actually, I beg to differ. I think it haunts every non-Japanese living in Japan, as a warning that you can framed for anything, and there's not much you can do about it. Ghosn had the resources to flee. Most of us don't.

Ossanamerica:

Countries involved in this story include Japan, Turkey, USA, Lebanon, France and Brazil. And what country do you bring up in your usual rants? China. Of course. Sure, I blame China for the money going missing, for Ghosn's escape, for humiliating the authorities, for trains breaking down. Anything else?

Don't see how it's haunting anyone except for Ghosn. Just another day for the prosecutor's, doubt they are losing any sleep if Lebanon doesn't cooperate. Perhaps the requirements for bail will be even tougher in the future, but again no one is losing any sleep over it.

The critical and negative opinions towards Japanese justice by foreigners living in Japan are truly a wonder. So much so that they rally behind a charlatan like Ghosn.

If Japan is such a place of hideous persecution and discrimination against foreigners, then seek out a more just society elsewhere.

One that deals with their failed plutocrats with much more kindness and “justice”.

Hunt him down.

Kushiro Today  03:46 pm JST

Catch Me If You Can.

Apart from that, the photo of Ghosn in a commanding position reminds me one of the most popular WWII posters, the "Uncle Sam Wants You!"

It is thus appropriate to name the title of this article photo, "Uncle Ghosn Wants 15 Million Euros!"

Pukey2Today  04:26 pm JST

Ossanamerica:

Countries involved in this story include Japan, Turkey, USA, Lebanon, France and Brazil. And what country do you bring up in your usual rants? China. Of course. Sure, I blame China for the money going missing, for Ghosn's escape, for humiliating the authorities, for trains breaking down. Anything else?

Read the article genius.

"In November, Ghosn scored a victory when a U.N. working group on arbitrary detention concluded his arrest and detention in Japan had been "fundamentally unfair", a view Tokyo slammed as "totally unacceptable".

Do you know which countries are on tje UN Human Rights Council? Didn't think so.

Don't waste your time on this Japan. You'll never have him arrested.

Yes, move on Japan and reform the legal system. Incidentally let,'s not forget the way in which he was arrested. A cheap, nasty, grubby, dishonourable, little Pearl Harbour tactic.

One comment here - is spot on.

Japanese logic is illogical.

Look Carlos or any foreigners could have done this by themselves. Why no Japanese from nissan are arrested , for example saikawa ???

From a Google search """Nissan Motor CEO Hiroto Saikawa is stepping down after an internal investigation revealed falsified documents that boosted his compensation in 2013."""

These are the same charges and nothing happened.

The utter hypocrisy is why the UN ruled in Ghosn's favour.

Maybe Japan should add detaining without trial and hating CEO foreigners to a UNESCO application

And that's my point. Something the Ghosn should have considered if he had a half a brain. A few deep bows of self depreciation would have helped him slip into the sunset without too much fanfare.

Something the Ghosn should have considered if he had a half a brain. A few deep bows of self depreciation would have helped him slip into the sunset without too much fanfare.

Anyone that is honest about the reality of Japan knows that only applies to Japanese.

30 years here 2 adult mixed children, Japanese wife and they will all 3 agree that the rules are different for pure Japanese and non Japanese, etc..

I would say Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Roman Polanski are far more well-known in the world as fugitives.

Assange and Snowden are not the same as Ghosn.

Polanski is a pedo rapist like Epstein.

Ghosn only crime is breaking bail, corruption, tax evasion, stealing money to give to his wife and son, lying and seriously insulting japan, where he for years could steal and rob because, he is rich and has/had connections.

He is a hero?

If Japan is such a place of hideous persecution and discrimination against foreigners, then seek out a more just society elsewhere.

Because pointing out faults is how things get changed not by pretending nothing is wrong and pretending that foreigners are treated equally. The simplest example is that it is legal to post no foreigners and refuse service but not so towards Japanese Nationals, right there it shows the laws are not equal.

The same here, a Japanese Nissan exec gets off lightly Ghosn gets detained for weeks no lawyer, etc...

Sooner or later, that big smelly fat fish will fall..

Who? The prosecutors or the new leadership at Nissan.

Both hopefully. But perhaps we are being too harsh on Japanese prosecutors. After all, they are only really trumped up bureaucrats at the end of the day. What is very disturbing are that Japanese judges order detention at the prosecutors (bureaucrats) whim, refuse bail without giving reasons at the prosecutors (bureaucrats) whim. They seem to know nothing about their own countries law or constitution. Perhaps Japanese judges are big smelly fish, and Japan needs a new selection process for judges.

The best example of the bias in the legal system is to take a look at the anti crime posters throughout Japan.

The criminals are nearly always given light hair, round eyes and clearly a non Japanese look and the victims are very Japanese looking.

This despite the Japanese government's own stats showing that based on population foreigners have a lower rate of criminal activity than Japanese.

I need t know what has to happen to trigger a renovation of the Japanese Justice System.

Really!

This is not fun anymore.

Surely breaking Mr Gosn's basic rights (remember, he was being punished while still a suspect, and for all we know innocent not a convict) should be haunting the persecutors more? No?

I wonder why Japan even bothered to sign international conventions (such as the human rights one), if it doesn't respect them.. just to save face?

Everything in Japan is about race, skin colour. Im glad he managed to escape and back in own country.

Ghosn is smart at business and shown the Japanese on how to do it. When his Japanese had absorbed those ideas, they started finding his faults.

Common story. Been there.

Which big smelly fish? The Japanese biased justice (or is it injustice) system? The one with 99% conversation rate equal only to countries like China and NK and that anyone that is honest knows also has a clear slant against non Japanese defendants.

The conviction rate in US federal courts is the same or even higher. Some have 100% conviction rates.

https://thediplomat.com/2020/03/carlos-ghosn-and-japans-99-conviction-rate

But, as I always say, never let facts stand in the way of what you want to believe about Japan and the Japanese.

what is really a shameful if the fact that companies he pooled out of near bankruptcy are now going after him. This often is happening in a corporate world but usually the success builders are simply pushed aside. In this case they are really going to far against the man that made them successful and that while doing so provided thousands of jobs. If one compares him with all other chairs in the auto industries during the time he was on the helm one easily finds that he was comparatively undercompensated. For the sake of the country's pride Japan should drop the case and issue an apology.

@Henry Penny

It is 85.1 percent in US federal courts.

src: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/24101520_Why_Is_the_Japanese_Conviction_Rate_so_High

You're welcome.

Thomas Goodtime Dec. 29  at 11:00 am JST

An innocent man escaping a fraudulent, archaic, cruel, backwards legal system. 

Well done to him, I say.

Without the impossible work of the Ex-Green Beret and his son, Ghosn would likely continue to be in custody in Japan. I hope that this father-and-son rescue team would inspire whoever would want to make the next Mission Impossible series, the Mission: Ghosn Protocol (2022).

By the way, do you trust the U.N. Human Rights Council which partly consists of non democratic countries.

What is so democratic about Japan's long, extended, & unfair detention of its suspect?

All you Ghosn supporters...if it is so terrible here for you feel free to leave....lol Look, he had an agreement here, a job, just to lead the employing company out of the red and other problems. And he was generously paid for this according to the hiring contract etc. Now tell us, why you think it is great of him to take even more than guaranteed by contract and more than he really ‘needs’ and all that illegally, out of the company and its resources. We are not talking about a ballpen, forgotten to put back on the company desk at 5p.m. Those are other dimensions here in this case. In addition, fleeing the scene secretly demonstrates his highly probable guilt and deep inside criminal behavior or character. If he really had nothing hide or to fear because he didn’t anything bad, he could easily stand the trial with his lawyers, also here in Japan. Now you, tell us....lol

All you Ghosn supporters...if it is so terrible here for you feel free to leave....l

Heh, it's always funny seeing someone's argument be such a failure that they argue 'well if you don't like it, leave'.

The simple response is 'no, and I'll continue to point out problems as I see fit. If you don't like it YOU can leave'.

And he was generously paid

He was not. Any other foreign company would pay 10x for his talent.

But he decided to stand with NISAN.

and all that illegally

Nothing illegal was done there, as far as we know.

The prosecutors are the ones that certainly did illegal stuff, according to many national & international sources.

If he really had nothing hide or to fear because he didn’t anything bad, he could easily stand the trial with his lawyers

Not a chance to get a fair trial in Japan. That's broadly known and accepted... "guilty until you're found guilty" by Japan Inc.

LOL...It's so easy to destroy the negationists arguments that I cannot contempt myself.

Japan's rule of Law is akin to China's.... in this case.

Maybe its an Asian thing. Guilty until proven innocent ?

You know, I just give up on Politics here in Japan. I don't care. I have been here several decades, and am still unable to Vote here, so I have no Democratic right... likewise as I have been overseas from my Home Country, I have no voting rights there... so I do not care about Democracy. What I do care about, is fairness. How is it, that someone can manage to survive doing what they are doing leading a Company for so many years without any red flags being raised during that tenure until the end... when someone saw fit to dethrone him. This raises so many questions, but as the Japanese (yes - not being Racist), system is so corrupt, those on the take already will suppress. I hope there will be an investigative Journalist with the "Balls" to dig down deep into what's going on, and reveal all - but they themselves may, if they do so, be subjected to severe pressure, so I suspect that nothing will change, and Japan will be just continue its ways - purporting to be a democratic country and essentially, just be the same as China.