2 Americans who helped in Ghosn's escape to be turned over to Japan

Agree with *your** 2:51 am JST post @ReynardFox: “A presumption of innocence does not mean that the allegations are assumed to be wrong. It simply means that the accused cannot be punished prior to conviction.“*

No doubt they too will be locked up in solitary confinement indefinitely without a charge and interrogated daily to force a confession.

“The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office sent prosecutors to the United States the same day to arrest the two men, Michael Taylor, 60, a former Green Beret, and his son Peter Taylor, 28, for enabling a criminal suspect to escape, among other charges, according to the sources.”

Uhh...might want to read the article more closely.

mmwkdwFeb. 28  09:52 pm JST

This is wrong, just wrong. Amnesty International should be onto this if not now, later... and the embarrassment will follow suit.

Amnesty was all set to help, but they found out that one of the guys is a registered Republican to they decided he can rot in a gulag for all they care.

Michael Taylor may have been in the Special Forces, but he will be vulnerable to interrogations because of his concern for his son Peter. Michael may be willing to spend years behind bars but he will do or say whatever he can to get his son out of the box that Michael put them both in.

daito_hakFeb. 28 04:33 pm JST

Shame on US for being such cowards. This is disgraceful. It’s highly doubtful that Japan would have done the same so easily for a Japanese citizen. I should recall the case of the three Japanese executives from Takata charged in US for the faulty airbags scandal which has cost the life of at least 26 people and has injured several hundred.

Oh, because what is at most a crime of negligence equates to an intentional crime. Let me also point out that the Americans acquitted the Captain after he plowed into a Japanese fishing boat. Speaking optimistically, you can say it shows the stringent standard of criminal negligence in the US. Speaking pessimistically, one may wonder whether such "stringent standards" will be extended to the Japanese executives.

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

what's happening?

is my statement wrong?

somebody please explain.

America sends two people to Japan for helping a framed person escape, while it sticks its middle finger to its ally, UK, by not sending back a woman who killed a boy by driving on the wrong side of the road.

Quite right. She has diplomatic connections and political leverage, while these two clowns are just expendable. Welcome to America.

in the "this is Japan" justice system the terms Hikokunin(defendant) and Hannin(criminal) are used indifferently in the books.

@Peeping_Tom: Ghostn hasn't been convicted of a crime yet. The charge of allowing a criminal to escape isn't valid. These guys didn't break any laws in Japan.

what's the over/under on them escaping Japan?

America sends two people to Japan for helping a framed person escape, while it sticks its middle finger to its ally, UK, by not sending back a woman who killed a boy by driving on the wrong side of the road.

daito_hak:

Shame on US for being such cowards. This is disgraceful. It’s highly doubtful that Japan would have done the same so easily for a Japanese citizen. I should recall the case of the three Japanese executives from Takata charged in US for the faulty airbags scandal which has cost the life of at least 26 people and has injured several hundred.

What happened? Were they shielded like Alberto 'Japanese' Fujimori?

Gee - that was quick. 1.5 yrs for an extradition?

mmwkdv

The Judiciary (everywhere, not solely in Japan) is not interested in your reasoning as a paramount consideration, i.e. respect for its decisions.

That's why you have the US authorities chasing after the Alcatraz escapees to this very day.

All that you are arguing should be ascertained at a trial; the "suspect" does not decide where/when a trial should/shall/will or may take place!

They helped an accused escape and make a mockery of the Japanese Laws and authority inside Japan.

JT"expertise" agrees because they hate Japan and don't like its laws (among all other things). Primarily, lack of legal knowledge too.

Well, really sorry this is no longer the Wild West, where you are allowed to run from the Law because you abhor it.

Locus Delicti is Japan.

Japanese rules, norms, and processes will/must apply.

Not the Tongan ones.

Simples.

Prosecutors should move ahead with their case against Ghosn. If they can't convict him, then drop the case against these guys.

@Peeping_Tom - you omit the bit about legitimacy over the original crime accusations, potentially trumped up and politically embarrassing should they be subjected to real Legal scrutiny... since then, who would be the plaintiff and who the defendant ? There are two options here, continue as planned with full Global Scrutiny over the whole matter - which will be very costly and potentially result in a cleared case - in which case, questions should be asked over why it went ahead in the first case, or Nissan will be found guilty of corporate report falsification - which would then bring into question the actions of other similar Japanese SuperNational Corporations. This Nissan affair, may finally unravel the hidden goings on within other larger Corporations here in Japan and finally reveal the money flow that escapes the attention of the taxman for the local Super Rich, but eludes the likes of the average Salaryman. Its a Double-edged sword, so will be interesting to see which way it swings.

"What crime did they commit?"

"sent prosecutors to the United States the same day to arrest the two men, Michael Taylor, 60, a former Green Beret, and his son Peter Taylor, 28, for enabling a criminal suspect to escape, among other charges, "

What's wrong with reading the article?!

Bail jumping (helping/abetting) is what Japan is not willing to forgive (they can't), and the US concurs.

All the rest is a general deficit of legal knowledge on display here by most"experts".

I am sure that at some point Mr. Ghosn will be back and I think he should return and face these Miserable Nissan liars and prove his innocence.

The onus is upon the prosecutor to prove guilt. But, in a country where the prosecutor is the judge, and the official judges are terrified of going against the prosecutor, not a lot of hope at the moment.

Of course, Ghosn being forced to teturn to Japan is what the prosecutors really want (although Ghosn has invited the prosecutors to interview him in Lebanon. Funny that they have not responded).

No Japanese has been convicted.

Hari Nada, Hiroto Saikawa,....

As Nada is not Japanese, you are showing that foreigners are not necessarily treated differently. Now if you want to believe Ghosn was only getting sued for being a foreigner, no fact will ever change your religious belief.

The Ghosn case is clearly, and has always been clearly, rigged. For people to help save him from injustice to be themselves imprisoned by the very same Country from which the injustice arose, seems really wrong.

This is wrong, just wrong. Amnesty International should be onto this if not now, later... and the embarrassment will follow suit.

Sad that those who freed a hostage are now hostages themselves.

t will probably play out along the usual limes of Japanese scam justice. Confess, get a suspended sentence (oh! look how kind we Japanese are) but because you are foreign, pay double the fine. Lets face it that is what is whole Ghosn saga was ever all about. Use Japans hostage legal system to get some easy money out of foriegners. Japan has been doing this for years.

What crime did they commit?

The crime of saving a foreigner that would never get a fair trial in Japan, proving to the world what a farce the Japanese justice system is.

Would take a Japanese prison any day over any other in the world. At least they are safe and dropping the soap is no issue.

How do you know? Have you done prison time in Japan?

No Japanese has been convicted.

Hari Nada, Hiroto Saikawa, Toshiaki Ohnuma, and all the rest of "innocent" people in Nissan.

At least they will become fluent in Japanese.

Lol, no way.

Wonder if the US authorities had sought some type of assurances that they would at least be treated fairly/have regular consular access/legal etc.

I think that’s the pressing issue here, to be given a fair trial. Who knows, maybe this whole Ghosn saga may lead to changes in the judicial system up there?

CaptDingleheimerToday  07:46 pm JST

Not sure about that son, but that dad is chiseled from granite.

Some Japanese interrogator is going to be eating his ochazuke through a straw with his jaw wired shut for most of a year if he gets too cute with that guy...

LOL! The guy is going to face a slap on the wrist or a couple of years, and he's going to turn that into 10 to 20? I don't think Taylor is stupid either.

MarkToday  07:53 pm JST

I am sure that at some point Mr. Ghosn will be back 

LOL! Sure. He spent all that money to escape Japanese jurisdiction. And he's going to come back when he doesn't have to? I don't think Ghosn is stupid.

Poor devils, their country abandons them to a hostage justice system in a case where no one died yet the US refuses to return a woman who mowed down a child in the UK!

I am sure that at some point Mr. Ghosn will be back and I think he should return and face these Miserable Nissan liars and prove his innocence.

Not sure about that son, but that dad is chiseled from granite.

Some Japanese interrogator is going to be eating his ochazuke through a straw with his jaw wired shut for most of a year if he gets too cute with that guy...

I'm filled with a sense of forebording, especially with so much touting of their having been " special forces", that somewhere in there, the J authorities will throw in their own " special forces " interrogators to come have their way in an effort to break these guys, just to rank and see if their own methods work. The very thought of it.....

@OssanAmerica SF Commandos are often regarded as smart people and are good at critical thinking. They were clearly not.

They were so easily fooled and used by Ghosn

when exactly will they "enter the dungeon" hope they can adjust to hood life.

Kobe White Bar OwnerToday  06:25 pm JST

The world will be watching this and it will shine a light on japans injustice system

You've obviously gotten the defendants mixed up. The world would have watched Ghosn's trial, if he had allowed it. These two are just paid grunts on charges of helping a bailjumper which is not even disputed.

So let me see if I get this straight:

Ghosn has refused to be the head of GM, get double his Japanese salary and instead he chose to stay with Nissan and allegedly cheated on reporting his Japanese income and was somehow able to fool a small army of Japanese accountants for many years even though he doesn't read or write Japanese without any Japanese accomplices?

The world will be watching this and it will shine a light on japans injustice system just when the Olympics are possibly/unfortunately being held. Japan again too much pride, cutting off its nose to spite its face.

What crime did they commit?

There MUST be some behind the scenes deals made for this non sense to be going down......

Yes, just like the US refusal to extradite Anne Sacoolas to the UK, even though she's admitted to killing teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn by driving on the wrong side of the road. The limp response from the British government would have nothing to do with their desperation to conclude a trade deal, would it?

Older readers may well remember Japan harbouring the monstrous Alberto Fujimori, later sentenced to 25 years in jail for crimes against humanity.

Is Ghosn going to do something to help these two Americans who helped him jump the bail? I’m sure they’d appreciate financial support so they could hire top class Japanese criminal lawyers to represent them in court.

Would take a Japanese prison any day over any other in the world. At least they are safe and dropping the soap is no issue.

Shame on US for being such cowards. This is disgraceful. It’s highly doubtful that Japan would have done the same so easily for a Japanese citizen. I should recall the case of the three Japanese executives from Takata charged in US for the faulty airbags scandal which has cost the life of at least 26 people and has injured several hundred.

Do the hustleToday  04:12 pm JST

No doubt they too will be locked up in solitary confinement indefinitely without a charge and interrogated daily to force a confession.

LOL. There's nothing for them to "confess". They've already completely admitted exactly what they did in both the Mass State Court and the US Federal Court. That's why they've never refuted the charge itself in fighting the extradition.

Oh boy are they are in for a world of hurt. Hell hath no fury as an embarrassed Japan.

A little discomfort should come as nothing to former Special Forces people. The writing was on the wall last fall. So now they can present their argument that "bailjumping isn't a crime in Japan" before a Japanese Court and see how far that gets them. Hope they didn't blow all that money they got from Ghosn on the wasted effort in the US Federal Court. Because they're going to have to present a pretty big defense in Japan.

I hope all those $Millions you made are worth it, Taylors. Being in a Japanese prison for a few years will be like living in hell.

At least they will become fluent in Japanese.

Nothing more important than face. The sordid saga continues.

No doubt they too will be locked up in solitary confinement indefinitely without a charge and interrogated daily to force a confession.