The former chairman of Nissan, who was facing charges of financial wrongdoing in Japan, fled the country while reportedly hidden in a box intended to transport musical instruments.
A band of musicians entered Carlos Ghosn’s home in Japan earlier this week under the pretense that they were performing during a dinner. When the musicians left his home, Ghosn was concealed inside one of the musical instrument’s boxes, according to Lebanese television station MTV.
Ghosn, who has maintained his innocence, was set to stand trial in 2020 and was under the close watch of Japanese authorities.
He arrived in Lebanon late Monday on a private jet from Turkey.
“I am now in Lebanon and will no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied, in flagrant disregard of Japan’s legal obligations under international law and treaties it is bound to uphold,” Ghosn said in a statement.
“I have not fled justice — I have escaped injustice and political persecution,” the statement continued. “I can now finally communicate freely with the media, and look forward to starting next week.”
Junichiro Hironaka, Ghosn’s lawyer in Japan, said he learned about the escape from the news, and Ghosn’s legal team had all three of his passports in their possession. Ghosn, 65, is a Lebanese citizen, where he is legally protected from extradition, as well as a citizen of France and Brazil.
“It would have been difficult for him to do this without the assistance of some large organization,” Hironaka said at a news conference. “I want to ask him, ‘How could he do this to us?’”
Japanese authorities accused the former Nissan executive of improperly reporting his income and shifting personal financial losses to the Japanese carmaker. He has been in and out of jail since his first arrest in November 2018.
