In video address, Ghosn says they are innocent and victim of backstabbing
TOKYO (Reuters) – Ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn said he was innocent and slammed former colleagues whom he accused of backstabbing and conspiring against him, inside a pre-recorded video that marked his first public address since his initial arrest a year ago.
Prosecutors took the highly unusual step of re-arresting Ghosn the other day on fresh allegations that she used company funds to complement himself to your tune of $5 million. The once-feted executive have been on $9 million bail for 1 month, through which he recorded it screened by his lawyers .
In the video, proven to reporters in Tokyo, hmo’s Nissan Motor Co chairman said he was the victim of selfish rivals bent on derailing appear alliance involving the Japanese automaker and French partner Renault SA (PA:RENA).
Ghosn called out some individuals by name in the video but those references were removed as a consequence of legal concerns, his lead lawyer Junichiro Hironaka told reporters.
The video – combined with Hironaka's comments alleging harsh treatment by Tokyo prosecutors against Ghosn and his wife, Carole – cast Ghosn as the victim of both internal rivals as well as Japanese judicial system.
"This is a conspiracy … this may not be about greed or dictatorship, this is with regards to a plot, this regarding a conspiracy, this is certainly with regards to a backstabbing," Ghosn said inside video.
He was wearing a dark jacket plus a white shirt. His hands were folded while in front of him when he considered your camera and spoke in a clipped, matter-of-fact manner. His hair got greyer with his fantastic face thinner than ever before last year's arrest.
The conspiracy, he stated, was borne due to fear that they brings Nissan even closer its partner and top shareholder, Renault.
"There was fear that this second step in the alliance in relation to convergence also in terms of moving towards a merger, would within a certain way threaten some individuals or eventually threaten the autonomy of Nissan," he said.
PHYSICAL, MENTAL PRESSURE
Hironaka told the briefing that prosecutors were acting from a "cruel way" and putting him under intense both mental and physical pressure to secure a confession.
Prosecutors were not immediately accessible for comment.
Hironaka has previously criticized the move by prosecutors to confiscate Ghosn's belongings, including his mobile and trial documents, together with the mobiles and Lebanese passport of his wife, Carole, who had been present when prosecutors entered their apartment at the start of the morning last Thursday.
The lawyer said on Tuesday that Ghosn's wife, who left Japan yesterday, did so from concern on her behalf own safety, adding she designed to protest true towards the French government.
However, France's finance minister said that political interventions may not be the easiest way to help Ghosn, raising some questions regarding how much pressure Paris was happy to place on Tokyo covering the issue.
The case has rocked the worldwide auto industry and likewise shone a harsh light on Japan's judicial system.
Under Japanese law, prosecutors can easily hold suspects for 22 days for free and interrogate them without their lawyers present.
Such procedures have focused much attention in the western world on Japan's judicial system, which critics sometimes refer to as "hostage justice", because defendants who deny their charges are sometimes not granted bail.
Ghosn have been involved in under-reporting his Nissan salary for just a decade, and also of temporarily transferring personal financial losses to Nissan's books. However, the latest, $5 million allegation is potentially more severe, as it may show he used company funds for their own purposes.
On Monday, Nissan shareholders ousted him for a director, severing his last tie while using the automaker he rescued from near-bankruptcy over twenty years ago.