Carlos Ghosn, the former Nissan chair who dramatically fled charges of financial misconduct in Japan, said he is “not above the law” as he made his first public appearance since his escape.
At a highly anticipated press conference in Beirut, Lebanon, to which he escaped from his Tokyo home, Mr Ghosn said he was the victim of an “unimaginable ordeal by unscrupulous individuals” and protested his innocence.
“I am not above the law and I welcome the opportunity for the truth to come out and have my name cleared,” he told a packed room of reporters.
“I did not escape justice. I fled injustice and persecution,” he said, adding that he would fight to clear his name.
Mr Ghosn, born in Brazil to parents of Lebanese descent, arrived in Lebanon after fleeing Japan, where he was being kept under surveillance ahead of a trial expected to take place in April, on 29 December.
Nissan said an internal investigation found that Mr Ghosn had engaged in personal use of company money and had under-reported his income in violation of Japanese law — charges he denies.
The 65-year-old’s departure prompted urgent questions about how one of the world’s most recognised executives had been able to leave Japan months before a high-profile court case.
The former Nissan chief’s extraordinary escape reportedly involved him being smuggled through an airport in a musical equipment case to a private jet. The daring operation is thought to have cost millions of dollars, and Mr Ghosn is believed to have hired a private security firm to assist him.
Mr Ghosn told reporters he would not answer any questions about how he made his escape, but in a combative appearance that involved projector slides, he portrayed the charges against him as a plot by Nissan and Japanese prosecutors linked to his support for plans to merge the company with industry ally Renault, of which he was also chairman.
"Unfortunately there was no trust. And some of our Japanese friends thought that the only way to get rid of Renault in Nissan is to get rid of me," he said.
He described the conditions of his detention in Japan as a "travesty", and said his lack of faith in the Japanese justice system led him to plot his escape
"I was brutally taken from my work as I knew it, ripped from my work, my family and my friends," he said.
"This [escape] was the most difficult decision of my life, but I was facing a system where the conviction rate is 99.4 percent and I believe this number is far higher for foreigners."
Mr Ghosn's escape has caused an awkward diplomatic situation between Lebanon and Japan. The two countries do not have an extradition treaty, and although Interpol has issued a wanted notice for the former motor industry titan, it does not require Lebanese authorities to arrest him.
Mr Ghosn said he would be ready to stand trial "anywhere where I think I can have a fair trial," but declined to say what country that might be.
Meanwhile, Japanese authorities are investigating who in Japan might have helped Mr Ghosn in his audacious escape.
Earlier on Wednesday, Tokyo prosecutors raided a Japanese lawyer's office where Mr Ghosn had visited regularly before he fled. Japanese media reports said prosecutors had likely seized the computer to track down how he escaped and who might have helped him.
Following the press conference, Tokyo prosecutors struck back Mr Ghosn's defence, saying his allegations of a conspiracy between prosecutors and the automaker were false and that he had failed to justify his acts.
"Carlos Ghosn fled from Japan by acting in a way that could constitute a crime in itself. His statements during his press conference today failed to justify his acts," the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office said in a statement.
It said that his allegation of a conspiracy was "categorically false", adding that prosecutors were seeking to bring him to justice in Japan.
— With agencies
