TOKYO, March 6, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn could
leave his Tokyo detention centre Wednesday after a court upheld a shock
decision to grant him bail, rejecting an appeal by prosecutors.
Lawyers for Ghosn are expected to pay the 1 billion yen ($9 million) bail,
clearing the way for the auto tycoon to walk out of jail after more than
three months of detention.
Dozens of journalists were gathered outside the jail in northern Tokyo from
early Wednesday, but prosecutors could still block the release if they file
new allegations against Ghosn, who is already facing three charges of
financial misconduct.
Overnight, he once again said he was innocent of the allegations, which
include claims he under-reported his salary and sought to shift losses to
Nissan’s books.
“I am innocent and totally committed to vigorously defending myself in a
fair trial against these meritless and unsubstantiated accusations,” Ghosn
said in a statement.
The surprise court ruling granting Ghosn bail comes after two unsuccessful
previous attempts to win release and was the latest twist in a case that has
gripped Japan and the business world since the auto industry titan’s November
19 arrest.
Ghosn shook up his legal team last month, hiring renowned defence attorney
Junichiro Hironaka, who quickly filed a new bail request.
The court had previously justified Ghosn’s ongoing detention, saying he
posed a flight risk and could seek to destroy evidence, so Hironaka’s bail
request offered restrictions intended to win the court’s trust.
The bail terms prevent Ghosn from leaving Japan and include other measures
restricting his communications.
– The ‘razor’ –
Kyodo news agency said the measures will restrict Ghosn’s cell phone use
and allow him to access a computer only in his lawyer’s office during daytime
hours on weekdays.
He will also be banned from contacting Nissan executives and other people
with links to the allegations against him, the agency reported.
But Kyodo said Ghosn could still attend board meetings at Nissan, where he
remains a director, if the court gives approval.
His former right-hand man Greg Kelly, who was also detained November 19 on
allegations he helped under-report the tycoon’s compensation, was himself
freed on bail of 70 million yen ($635,000) on Christmas Day.
Ghosn’s prolonged stay behind bars has come under fire internationally and
from rights groups.
Speaking to AFP and French daily Les Echos in January — his only interview
with foreign media so far — Ghosn himself said that his continued detention
“would not be normal in any other democracy”.
“Why am I being punished before being found guilty?” Ghosn asked.
Under Japanese law, prosecutors can hold a suspect for up to 22 days while
they investigate an allegation, and then can apply for repeated one-month
stretches of pre-trial detention for each charge eventually levelled.
That means prosecutors could effectively prevent Ghosn from leaving
detention despite Tuesday’s bail decision if they level new allegations
against him, restarting the 22-day detention clock.
In a shake-up of his legal team last month, Ghosn replaced a former
prosecutor known as “the breaker” with Hironaka, who has earned the nickname
“the acquitter” for his court record and the “razor” for his mental
sharpness.
– Complex case –
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Hironaka had vowed a “completely new legal
strategy” to obtain his client’s release, and experts said the change of tack
appeared to be behind the surprise bail ruling.
“I think the content of the lawyer’s application changed the situation,”
said Japanese lawyer Nobuo Gohara.
Nissan declined to comment on the bail decision, saying it was a matter for
courts and prosecutors.
However, it said that an internal probe had “uncovered substantial evidence
of blatantly unethical conduct” and that “further discoveries related to
Ghosn’s misconduct continue to emerge”.
“The company’s focus is firmly on addressing weaknesses in governance that
failed to prevent this misconduct,” it added in a statement.
A towering figure once revered in Japan for turning around Nissan’s
fortunes, Ghosn also forged a successful alliance between Nissan, Mitsubishi
Motors and France’s Renault.
But his attempts to deepen the alliance caused resentment in some quarters,
and Ghosn has claimed the allegations against him are part of a “plot” by
opponents of greater integration between the three firms.
Given the number of people involved in the complex case and their wide
geographical spread, Hironaka said the case would run over a “very long time
span”.
However, he said prosecutors had begun handing over some of their evidence
prior to a potential trial.