Carlos Gohan, who led the automaker from a loss to profit, fled Japan after an indictment was filed against him: "I ran away from a corrupt justice system"

• Former Nissan CEO Carlos Gohan // Photo: AFP

Former Nissan chairman Carlos Gohan escaped detention in Japan last year and landed in Lebanon in what is considered a drama in the global and Japanese automotive industry. Given in Japan in the past year because the two countries do not have a extradition agreement between them.

Upon his arrival in Lebanon, where he is highly regarded and considered a celebrity, Gohan tweeted that "I did not run away from justice but escaped from a corrupt legal system where there is no chance for justice and there is a denial of human rights." This senior businessman's claim is supported by the fact that Japan's legal conviction rate is 99 percent, which has often drawn severe criticism of the state.

Carlos Gohan's arrest, he said, was part of the power struggles within Nissan, as elements within the company tried to prevent him from leading a union between Nissan and its French automotive partner Renault. Gohan made a complete upheaval in Nissan and from a failed company he marched it to huge profits and improved its position until it became one of the largest corporations in the world.

However, his great publicity and power did not help him and he was arrested in Japan on the grounds that he had hidden from the tax authorities the true size of his salary and that he had criminally avoided paying the full tax on his income. Such charges in Japan could have led the successful chairman, who set Nissin to her feet in the 1990s and put him back in custody, for up to 15 years in prison.

Until now, it is unclear how the businessman managed to escape from Japan, as all his passports were taken and he was under house arrest under surveillance. However, according to reports in Lebanon, Gohan landed on a private jet that took him from Turkey to Beirut International Airport and from there he traveled to his home in the city.

Gohan's Japanese lawyer said he was shocked to learn that his client had fled the country and that he had nothing to do with it. The lawyer claimed that the last time he saw his client was on Christmas Eve because the businessman came to his law firm daily to work on his defense. In practice, Claros Gohan is being sympathized with the level of a national hero in Lebanon even today and it is difficult to see that the country, which is in deep crisis like this, is helping the Japanese authorities put their hands on the man.