Japanese prosecutors on Friday demanded almost three years in prison against two Americans tried in Tokyo for helping Carlos Ghosn leave Japan at the end of 2019, while he was on bail.
A sentence of two years and ten months in prison has been requested against Michael Taylor, a former member of the American special forces converted into private security, and a sentence of two and a half years for his son Peter.
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Carlos Ghosn's flight from Japan “seriously violated our country's criminal justice system,” said a prosecutor in court.
And to add: "It was a very sophisticated and brazen criminal act" by judging "extremely serious" the responsibility of Michael Taylor who played a "central role" in the operation.
They “deeply” regret their actions
For the record, at the end of 2019, the former boss of Renault and Nissan was on bail in Tokyo with the ban on leaving Japanese territory, pending the opening of a trial for alleged financial embezzlement on his part at Nissan. . Facts he has always denied. His escape had taken place in incredible circumstances: he had notably hid in a large box of audio equipment to avoid checks at the airport. And he had reached Beirut via Istanbul with private jets hired for the occasion. An escape that had a huge worldwide impact and had deeply humiliated the Japanese authorities.
At the first hearing of their trial on June 14, the Taylors did not dispute the allegations against them.
They were arrested in May 2020 in the United States and then extradited to Japan in March this year.
Earlier this week, the two men told court that they “deeply” regret their actions.
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Ghosn case: new images of alleged accomplices at Istanbul airport
In the meantime, Carlos Ghosn, of Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian nationality, has taken refuge in Lebanon and remains beyond the reach of Japanese justice since this country does not extradite its nationals.
