Already two in ten days. After an interview with Al Arabiya chain last week, Carlos Ghosn this time confided in the columns of the daily Le Parisien on Monday. The former boss of the Renault-Nissan Alliance notably mentioned a " technical obstacle " to his hearing by French justice.
To read also: "They abandoned me": Carlos Ghosn attacks France
Accused of financial embezzlement, Carlos Ghosn was arrested in Japan in November 2018. And at the end of 2019, he had reached Lebanon via Turkey during an exfiltration operation. According to Le Parisien, he was to be heard on July 13 by an investigating judge in Nanterre.
"I don't belong to the establishment"
“ My lawyers have been discussing the conditions of this hearing with the investigating judge for weeks. There is a technical obstacle. My passport is in the hands of the Attorney General in Lebanon, because Japan has issued an international arrest warrant for me. I also want to be certain that my security is assured and that I am guaranteed freedom of movement, "explained Carlos Ghosn, adding that to go to France he must" cross other countries ". “ No one can assure me that the trip will be without interruption, without accident. The judge could, for example, have me interrogated in Beirut where I am ready to answer all of his questions, ”assured the former car magnate who was under judicial supervision when he was exfiltrated in Lebanon.
He was out on bail, prohibited from leaving Japan, when he was exfiltrated from the archipelago during a spectacular escape on the evening of December 29. Once in Lebanon, he posed as the victim of a " set-up " and assured that he had had " no other choice " than to flee from " partial " justice . In early July, an Istanbul court began trying seven Turkish nationals accused of helping Carlos Ghosn escape. According to the indictment, Carlos Ghosn was hidden during the journey in a bulky case for a musical instrument in which holes had been drilled to allow the fugitive to breathe.
Asked by Le Parisien what he expected from France, Carlos Ghosn replied that he was " not naive ... ". " I did not do the ENA, I do not have the usual connections of French employers, I do not belong to the establishment. The microcosm did not rightly consider me to be one of its own, ”he said.
“Dismal” Nissan and Renault results
Asked also about his disputed record at the head of the Renault-Nissan alliance, he replied that he was “ proud of it .” “ I would like someone to explain to me, if I was bad, why we renewed my contract in June 2018, just a few months before my arrest in Japan? The Board of Directors, on which two representatives of the State sit, asked me as a whole to stay four more years. They knew everything about me: my strategy, my management, my personality. I've been at the head of Nissan for 17 years, thirteen for Renault, three years for Mitsubishi. If I had been crazy about volumes (production, editor's note), we would have noticed, right? ", He observed. Carlos Ghosn also explained that he found " the results of Nissan and Renault dismal ".
“Each of the two companies folds in on itself. There is no longer any real mix of management between Renault and Nissan, but a devious distancing. My successor at Nissan, (Hiroto) Saïkawa, had the nerve to praise the old management methods in use before the Ghosn era. Those who had driven the business into the wall. A pantouflarde alliance has no chance of success, “insisted the former boss of the Alliance.
