ZCZC
BFF-04
US-JUSTICE-JAPAN-GHOSN-ACCOMPLICES
US judge denies extradition appeal of alleged Ghosn accomplices
WASHINGTON, Feb 12, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – A US court on Thursday denied a final
appeal to delay the extradition to Japan of two Americans accused of having
helped former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn flee the Asian nation.
Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor were arrested in May 2020 after
Japan issued a warrant.
Court documents said that the two men had filed an “emergency motion to
stay their surrender and extradition to Japan.”
They had filed the petition so they would have time to mount a new legal
challenge against a previous court ruling greenlighting their extradition.
A panel of three judges at the First US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston
ruled Thursday that the Taylors “have failed to demonstrate a likelihood of
success” in their challenge and, “more generally, have failed to demonstrate
that a stay is in order.”
A US federal judge in late January had given the go-ahead to extradite the
father and son to Japan, saying they could not satisfactorily back up their
claim that they would be subjected to conditions approaching torture in
Japanese prison to merit breaching the extradition treaty between Tokyo and
Washington.
Judge Indira Talwani also pointed out their alleged actions would be
considered a crime in the United States, as well as in Japan.
Tokyo has accused the Taylors, along with Lebanese George-Antoine Zayek, of
helping Ghosn escape justice by fleeing the country on December 29, 2019.
Peter Taylor was apprehended in Boston as he was trying to leave the
country for Lebanon, where Ghosn had taken refuge and where there is no
extradition treaty with Japan.
He and his father Michael, a former US special forces member turned private
security contractor, have been imprisoned while awaiting the extradition
hearing due to being considered flight risks.
US court documents show the three men allegedly tried to help smuggle Ghosn
out of the country inside a large musical equipment case.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0916 hrs