Carlos Ghosn trashes Nissan and Japanese legal system, reaffirms innocence

Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has bared all in a revealing press conference, giving his first public comments since fleeing Japan, where he was being held while awaiting charges for financial misconduct.

Reaffirming his innocence in the strongest possible terms, he said that “these allegations are untrue and I should have never been arrested in the first place”.

He called the events that led to his arrest “a systematic campaign by a handful of malevolent actors” and went on to name individuals, including high-ranking Nissan executives. He also alleged that high-ranking members of the Japanese government were involved but refused to name names.

Ghosn held the frantically organised conference in an undisclosed location in Beirut, Lebanon, eight days after he fled Japan hidden in a private plane. He claimed that he had to do this in order to escape “injustice and political persecution”.

“Escaping Japan was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make," said Ghosn. "But the facts, the truth and justice are irrelevant to these individuals. The only way I will get a fair trial would be to not be in Japan.”

"My choice was between dying in Japan or escaping"

Ghosn went into detail about his treatment during his lengthy detention in a Japanese prison. He described a “tiny cell without a window” and claimed he was only allowed outside for 30 minutes a day on weekdays and only allowed to shower twice a week.

He also claimed he went six days without human contact during the New Year break and was offered a translator only once a week. Prescription medication was also said to be forbidden.

Ghosn described being treated “like a terrorist” during his interrogation, which he said was "designed” to break his spirit.

He said: “I've spent the previous months being interrogated up to eight hours a day with no lawyers present. ‘It will get worse for you if you don’t confess', they say - and this was recorded. ‘If you confess it will be over, and if you don’t confess, we will go after your family’."

Ghosn added that his family – including his wife Carole, for whom the Japanese government has issued an arrest warrant – were subjected to “media attacks orchestrated by Japanese prosecutors and Nissan executives”.

Japanese prosecution is a “system indifferent to truth”

Ghosn railed against the Japanese prosecution team during his hour-long statement to the media, claiming he had no chance of a fair trial when there is a 99.4% conviction rate in Japan’s justice system.