According to a report by the Turkish broadcaster NTV, authorities in Turkey have arrested seven people. The arrests are apparently related to the ex-manager Carlos Ghosn's flight from Lebanon to Japan. Four pilots are said to be among the suspects. According to insiders, the car manager flew a private jet from Istanbul to Beirut on Monday. He was supposed to be tried in Japan.
Ghosn was a long time Renault and Nissan boss. He is considered the architect of the international car alliance between Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi. The ex-manager is a French, Brazilian and Lebanese national. He was released on bail in Japan in April under strict conditions that were supposed to prevent him from escaping abroad, but surprisingly showed up in Lebanon a few days ago.
Ghosn emphasized in a statement that he was "no longer a hostage to the manipulated Japanese judicial system." He owns a luxury property in the Lebanese capital Beirut. His family originally comes from Lebanon. The Tokyo State Department said the Japanese government was now dependent on help from the Lebanese authorities because there was no extradition agreement with the Mediterranean state.
Escape route via Istanbul, arrests in Turkey
According to a media report, Ghosn had apparently been able to escape to Lebanon thanks to another French passport. Japanese authorities have allowed the former Renault and Nissan boss to carry an extra passport in a locked case while he was under house arrest, the public broadcaster NHK reported. Ghosn's residence in Tokyo was searched by the prosecutor on Thursday.
Ghosn was smuggled into Tokyo by a private security firm, according to Reuters, citing two people familiar with the matter. The plan had been worked on for three months.
The once highly respected car manager was first arrested in Tokyo in November 2018. There are four charges against him. Ghosn is accused of claiming that his income is too low, that he has harmed Nissan by five million euros and that he has personally enriched himself. In Japan, he faces a prison sentence of several years and the trial should begin in April.
Meanwhile, the French government has also spoken out in the case: Ghosn can feel safe in France - at least before being extradited to Japan. "If Mr. Ghosn came to France, we would not extradite Mr. Ghosn, because France never extradits its own nationals," said State Secretary in the French Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, BFMTV. The French authorities said they had heard of Ghosn's surprising escape from the media.
Pannier-Runacher also pointed out that Ghosn was not above the law either. In the past, investigators had also searched Renault offices in France. In other words, Ghosn would be protected from extradition in France, but not immune to possible own investigations by the French judiciary.
