Lebanon places travel ban on former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn

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Beirut - On Wednesday, Ghosn spoke to the media and accused the Japanese justice system of violating his basic rights.

By AP

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Published: Thu 9 Jan 2020, 3:19 PM

Last updated: Thu 9 Jan 2020, 8:12 PM

Lebanese prosecutors have issued a travel ban for fugitive Nissan ex-chief Carlos Ghosn, following an Interpol-issued notice, a judicial official said on Thursday.

Lebanon last week received an Interpol-issued wanted notice, which is a non-binding request to law enforcement agencies worldwide that they locate and provisionally arrest a fugitive. Ghosn arrived in Lebanon on December 30 after being smuggled out of Japan.

According to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters, Ghosn was currently being interrogated on a separate report against him over a 2008 visit to Israel. Lebanon and Israel are technically at war.

Lebanon and Japan do not have an extradition treaty, and the Interpol notice does not require that Lebanese authorities arrest him. Lebanese authorities say Ghosn entered the country on a valid passport, casting doubt on the possibility they would hand him over to Japan.

A lawyer representing Ghosn appeared before Lebanese prosecutors on Thursday over the Interpol request.

It was not immediately clear if Ghosn himself was at the hearing, though local media reported that he was and that he had entered through a side door, reserved for judges and lawyers, to avoid reporters.

On Wednesday, Ghosn spoke to the media for the first time since his escape in a two-and-a-half hour-long press conference in which he railed at the Japanese justice system, accusing it of violating his basic rights.

Ghosn said he had no trust he would get a fair trial in Japan, disputing all allegations against him as "untrue and baseless".

Tokyo prosecutors, who arrested him in late 2018, said Ghosn had "only himself to blame" for the four-month-long detention and for the strict bail conditions that followed, such as being banned from seeing his wife.

"Defendant Ghosn was deemed a high-profile risk, which is obvious from the fact that he actually fled," they said.

Separately, Ghosn faces possible legal action over a business visit to Israel in 2008 after two Lebanese lawyers submitted a report to the Public Prosecutor's Office saying the trip violated Lebanese law.

At Wednesday's conference, Ghosn apologized to the Lebanese, saying he never wished to offend anyone when he traveled to Israel as a French national after Nissan asked him to announce the launch of electric cars there.

Ghosn, who holds Lebanese, French and Brazilian citizenship, thanked the Lebanese authorities for their hospitality and defended its judicial system, which has long faced accusations of corruption and favoritism. He said he would be ready to stand trial "anywhere where I think I can have a fair trial." He declined to say where that might be.


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